Severus McGonagall
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Begins in Severus' and Lily's first year. McGonagall notices that Severus is abused and decides to adopt him. How will this change Severus', Lily's and Harry's life? AU, partly OOC, abused/sick!Severus, partly sick!Lily, SMLE
1. 1

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes!_

**

* * *

Chapter 1**

Severus stood next to Lily in the Great Hall, waiting for Professor McGonagall to call his name. He followed Lily with his obsidian eyes as she sat down at the Gryffindor table, pleading, '_I hope we'll be able to remain friends, even if we're in different Houses_.'

Twenty minutes later, he was sorted into Slytherin. He walked over to the Slytherin table, hesitantly greeting his House mates, feeling very alone in the huge hall full of students, who all seemed to know each other. Severus didn't feel hungry at all. The meal looked extremely appetizing, but ever since his father had caught him brewing a potion the day before and had angrily punished him, his ribs were sore and he didn't feel well at all.

After a short House meeting with Professor Slughorn, their Head of House, who was the Potions Professor as Severus noticed excitedly, the first-years were sent to their dormitories. Severus was extremely grateful for the green curtains that surrounded the beds, so that he could change behind the curtain and didn't have to fear that his roommates might discover the vast amount of bruises and welts covering most parts of his body.

'_I hope I'll have a chance to speak with Lily today. Maybe we can meet in the library to study together_,' he mused as he hesitantly entered the Transfiguration classroom on his first morning at Hogwarts. The seat next to Lily was vacant, and Severus happily slipped into the seat, glad when his sight caused a huge smile to appear on his friend's face. The teacher was still nowhere to be seen, but suddenly the cat that had been sitting on the teacher's desk transformed back into the stern professor, who had greeted them the evening before.

The professor held a small speech about the content of her classes, before she made them try to transfigure a match into a needle. One of the Gryffindors, James Potter, and Severus were the only students able to do the Transfiguration, and the Professor awarded Slytherin and Gryffindor five House points each, before she dismissed them.

Just when Lily and Severus stood up from their seats, one of the Gryffindors, whose name Lily remembered was Sirius, came over to Severus, shoving him against the table, and hissed, "What are you doing here with a Gryffindor, little snake? You're supposed to sit with the slimy Slytherins."

Severus was overwhelmed by the pain shooting through his body, and Lily observed, terrified, how her friend doubled over in pain. She hurriedly called the professor, who gently led Severus into her office, motioning for Lily to follow them.

HP

"What exactly happened, Miss Evans, Mr. Snape?" McGonagall queried, while she made Severus lie down on a freshly conjured sofa.

"Sirius came and pushed him against the table, telling he was supposed to sit with the Slytherins instead with me," Lily told the teacher. "Severus and I are good friends, and we can sit together, can't we?"

"Of course, my dear," McGonagall replied absentmindedly, observing the boy in concern. "Mr. Snape, where exactly does it hurt?"

"My ribs," Severus said in a small voice, holding his side.

"Your father?" Lily mouthed, causing Severus to give her an unobtrusive nod.

McGonagall noticed in concern that the boy's face was completely drained of colour except for his cheeks, which were deeply flushed, and beads of sweat were covering his forehead. She gently laid the back of her hand on his forehead, sighing. "You're burning up. I have to call Madam Pomfrey, our Mediwitch."

"No," Severus said, horrified. '_The Mediwitch would notice all the bruises and welts all over my body. I can't have anyone know what happened_,' he mused as he threw the teacher a pleading look. "Please, Professor, I'll be fine..."

The teacher felt very sorry for the boy, but he seemed to be too ill and in too much pain to let him go. She conjured a thermometer and coaxed the business end under his tongue, worriedly noticing that the boy's breathing seemed laboured. Lily sat next to Severus and gently laid her arm around his back, while they were waiting for the reading to finish.

"Forty point two," McGonagall read from the display. "I'm sorry, Mr. Snape, but since you're running such a high fever, I have to call Madam Pomfrey. Don't worry; she is a very nice woman." On her way to the fireplace she registered that Severus began to shiver violently and mumbled to his friend in a very upset voice, while Lily gently stroked his flushed cheeks, speaking to him in a soothing voice.

Fortunately, Madam Pomfrey stepped out of the fireplace only an instant later. She bustled over to the sofa, casting her diagnostic spells on Severus. Frowning, she re-cast the spells, before she sat on the edge of the bed, giving him a piercing look, before she spoke in a soft voice.

"Severus, I believe we have something to discuss in private. Don't you think so?"

Severus cast the Mediwitch a frightened look, before he replied, "Lily knows about it, and I don't mind Professor McGonagall knowing, provided that they keep it to themselves."

"They will," Poppy reassured him and explained, "You have several broken ribs, one of them is puncturing a lung. This causes your high fever. I'm going to heal your ribs and fix your lung; however, you may not move during the next twenty-four hours." She waved her wand, mumbling several healing spells, before she nodded contentedly and turned to the Gryffindor Head of House. "Minerva, I'm sorry, but you'll have company here in your office for at least twenty-four hours, before we can move Mr. Snape to the hospital wing."

"Is it so bad?" McGonagall asked in concern.

"Yes," Pomfrey replied, sighing. "His ribs and his lung are healed, but his ribs are not stable enough yet to move him and his lung is slightly infected. He needs absolute bed rest until his fever breaks." Turning to Severus, she enquired softly, "Mr. Snape, when exactly happened this?"

"The evening before yesterday," Severus replied in a hardly audible voice. "My father..." He slowly trailed off.

"Your father abuses you?" McGonagall asked, horrified.

"No," Severus hurried to assure her, but Lily beat him to it.

"Yes, Professor, his father often beats him, especially since his mother died two years ago."

"My father doesn't abuse me; here merely doesn't like it when I brew potions, which I like a lot, and he punishes me as he sees fit," Severus disagreed.

"Severus, we'll speak about the matter when you're feeling better," McGonagall told him in a soft voice. "You do not have to endure any pain at home because you like brewing potions."

Pomfrey slid a wrist band over the boy's much too thin wrist, casting several spells on it that would alert her if his fever spiked or his breathing became agitated, before she spelled two potions into his system, causing Severus to drift off to sleep in the blink of an eye.

"Professor, he often comes to us after his father hurts him. His father is a Muggle, and he hates Severus because of being magical. He always beats him if he brews something. Yesterday, he brewed a Pepperup potion and a fever reducer for my sister, because she had a bad cold, and probably his father noticed it and punished him when he returned from our house," Lily quietly filled the teacher in.

"In that case, he won't have to go back to his father," Madam Pomfrey said firmly. "Considering his injuries, I have enough material for documentation to win a trial against his father if necessary, and I'm sure that we can find someone, who would be willing to take him in."

"One of us could try to gain the guardianship over him," McGonagall agreed with her friend. "However, now it's time for us to head to our classes. We're already late. What is your second class, Miss Evans?"

"Potions," Lily replied, "but I have no idea where the Potions classroom is."

McGonagall quickly pointed her wand at a piece of parchment, causing two sentences to appear written in her copperplate handwriting. "Please hand this to Professor Slughorn. Poppy, could you perhaps show Miss Evans the way?"

"Of course, I'll take you to the Potions classroom," Madam Pomfrey agreed gently and slowly led the girl to the dungeons. Noticing that Lily was extremely pale, she asked softly, "Are you feeling well, Miss Evans?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Lily replied in surprise. "I just have a bit of a headache."

"I'm asking because many Muggle born first-years have problems when they come to Hogwarts and are suddenly confronted with all the bugs and viruses of the magical world at once. If your headache doesn't clear up or you have any other problems, please come and see me at the hospital wing or tell your Head of House so she can fetch me."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Lily replied gratefully, before she thanked the Mediwitch for showing her to the Potions classroom and entered the room.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

After her last afternoon class, Lily hesitantly knocked at the door to Professor McGonagall's office. "Excuse me for disturbing you, Professor," she apologized politely. "Might I perhaps visit Severus?"

"Of course, Miss Evans, come in," McGonagall replied gently, ushering the first-year into her office, where Severus was sleeping peacefully.

Lily spent the next hour gently bathing her friend's flushed face with a cold cloth the professor conjured for her. '_Sev is always very pale, but today he looks absolutely horrible. Well, I should better do my homework; he is asleep anyway. If just my head didn't hurt so much_,' she mused and was just about to stand up when Severus stirred.

"Lily," Severus smiled, grasping her hand in his own.

"How are you feeling, Sev?" Lily queried, adjusting the cool cloth to his forehead.

"My ribs don't hurt anymore," Severus realized, sighing in relief.

Seeing that Severus was awake, McGonagall stepped over to him and gave him a sharp look. "Madam Pomfrey placed a charm on you that prevents you from moving your body, just so you know why you can only move your head and your arms and legs. I trust you're feeling at least slightly better?" she asked, examining his wrist band.

"Much better. I'm sorry for intruding in your office," Severus replied, anxiously glancing at the professor.

"That's no problem, Mr. Snape," McGonagall said gently. "Would you like to eat something? You already missed lunch, and it's dinner time."

"No, thank you."

McGonagall sighed, looking at Lily. "Are you coming with me to the Great Hall for dinner, or would you like to eat something here and keep Mr. Snape company?"

"I'd like to stay here if I may. I'm not hungry," Lily replied in a small voice, causing Severus and the teacher to throw her concerned looks.

"Are you feeling all right, Lily?" Severus queried. "You don't look good. You did not catch Petunia's cold, did you?"

"No, I don't think so. I just have a terrible headache."

The teacher gave her a sharp look, noticing that the girl's eyes were slightly glazed over. She quickly extended a hand, gently placing it on Lily's forehead that felt slightly warm to the touch. Just to be sure, she also felt the girl's necks and hand, before she said, "I believe it's more than just a headache. You also seem to have a fever." Seeing Lily throw her a questioning look, she made the girl sit comfortably on a chair and once more conjured a thermometer, coaxing the business end under the girl's tongue.

'_I really don't feel good_,' Lily thought as she rested her achy head against the bookshelf behind her chair, unaware of the concerned looks she received from Severus and her Head of House. She sighed in relief as the thermometer finally beeped and the teacher took the annoying thing back.

"Thirty-eight point six," the professor read. "Miss Evans, stay put for a moment; I'll call Madam Pomfrey, so she can check on you. She'll want to know that Severus is awake anyway."

A minute later, the Mediwitch bustled into the room. After a glance at Severus' wrist band and a contented nod, she began to cast her diagnostic spells on Lily. "I can't find anything wrong except for the fever and a headache. Maybe it could be a Muggle illness," she said thoughtfully.

"Perhaps I just caught my sister's cold," Lily threw in, blushing deeply at the unwanted attention.

"That could be," Pomfrey agreed and lit the tip of her wand, before she looked into Lily's mouth, ears, and eyes. "It appears like a cold, although your fever is too high for a cold. I should take you with me to the hospital wing."

Seeing that Lily looked very unhappy and was on the verge of protesting, McGonagall said, "I wouldn't mind conjuring a second bed here, knowing that my office has already been turned into a small hospital wing. You'll come again to check on Severus later on, won't you, Poppy?"

"Yes, of course I will, and by that time we might know more about what is ailing Miss Evans. For the moment, I'm going to give her Pepperup potion, and we'll see if it suffices," Pomfrey agreed, making Lily drink a potion, and slid a wrist band over her hand, giving the Transfiguration teacher a small nod. Finally, she began to thoroughly check on Severus, before she nodded contentedly and left the room through the fireplace.

McGonagall transfigured the chair into a bed, magically changed Lily's school clothes into pyjamas, and gently tucked the girl in. The teacher watched from her desk how the children quietly talked for a few minutes, before they both drifted off to sleep. From time to time she stood up and checked the students' wrist bands, noticing that Severus' condition seemed to slowly improve, while Lily's fever was steadily rising. Getting worried, she proceeded to sit on the edge of the girl's bed and conjured several towels, spelling them to remain icy cold, and placed them around her neck, her legs, and her arms, to no avail as she noticed quickly.

By the time Poppy returned to check on her patients right before curfew, Lily's fever had climbed up to nearly forty degrees. Poppy worriedly checked on the girl and sighed. "I have three students in the hospital wing with Muggle colds and eight Muggle born students with the wizard's flu. I'm afraid that Miss Evans has caught both, considering her extremely high fever, but I'm not a hundred percent sure except for the wizard's flu, so I'd like to quarantine her for the night. She shouldn't stay here with Severus either so as to not aggravate his condition. Do you think we could move her into your guest room overnight?"

"Of course," McGonagall agreed, watching as Poppy led the shivering first-year into her guest room. All the Head of House quarters had one emergency guest room that was directly connected with the hospital wing just in case such a room would be needed.

"Minerva, you look tired. Go to bed. I don't want you to get sick as well," Madam Pomfrey advised her friend on her way back to the hospital wing. "Severus is all right, and I placed charms on both of them, so I'll know immediately if their conditions change. Don't worry and get some sleep."

"Yes Mum," McGonagall sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. She complied and went to bed straight away, but knowing that she had two sick students staying in her quarters caused her to wake up every now and then. Hearing harsh coughs through the open bedroom door, she tiredly made her way to her guest room, noticing that her student's condition hadn't improved in the least.

Lily was sweating profusely only to shiver violently an instant later. Her face was deeply flushed and she was tossing and turning around, gasping for air every now and then. A glance at the girl's wrist band alerted Minerva to the fact that her fever was still at forty degrees. She gently dried the girl's skin and magically exchanged her pyjamas to dry clothes, before she carefully shook the girl to wake her from the fever induced nightmare she seemed to be having.

"Pfessor, I'm scared," Lily admitted, reaching for the teacher's hand. "Sev's father is beating him again."

"It's all right, Lily, both you and Severus are safe at Hogwarts," McGonagall reassured her, gently bathing her hot face. '_The poor child; this is not the most comfortable way to begin her first year at Hogwarts_,' she mused as she remembered her own first days with her friends Poppy and Rolanda.

"But I saw him, just a few minutes ago," Lily croaked, worriedly looking around.

"Lily, you're delirious with a high fever. Believe me, Severus is safe and I'll try my best to prevent that he ever has to return to his father."

"Really?" Lily queried, turning her glassy, green eyes to the professor.

"Yes," Minerva promised, resolving to speak with Albus about the possibility of removing Severus from his abusive home in the morning. "Now try to go back to sleep, Lily. Everything is all right."

"Okay," Lily replied, obviously feeling consoled and reassured enough to close her eyes. Soon, her breathing evened out and she drifted off to sleep.

_tbc..._


	2. 2

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

In the morning, Severus' condition was stable enough so that he could be moved to the hospital wing. Poppy shielded his bed with privacy screens, before she sat on the edge of his bed.

"Severus, I'd like to heal the bruises and welts that showed up on my diagnostic scan. Would you mind me applying an ointment to heal them?" she asked gently. Receiving Severus' consent, she stripped him down to his boxers and rubbed the healing salve onto his skin, shocked at the number of bruises covering his body. '_The poor boy; no child should have to endure such an abuse at home_,' she thought as she gently dressed him into his pyjamas.

"Feels good," Severus mumbled gratefully. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."

"You're welcome, sweetie. Now, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore would like to speak with you about your father and the question if you'd like someone else to become your permanent guardian. Are you feeling well enough for that conversation?"

"Yes," Severus replied, throwing the Mediwitch a frightened look.

"Don't worry, Severus. They will help you. You're not alone with this," Madam Pomfrey said softly, gently patting his head, before she stepped through the connecting door to Minerva's guest room into her friend's quarters.

'_I wonder what is wrong with Miss Evans_,' Poppy thought as she crossed the room, taking in her deeply flushed face and laboured breathing.

"Minerva," she addressed her friend, who was curled up on the sofa in the living room, reading an old tome, "could you please call Albus and visit Mr. Snape? He is ready to speak with both of you now. In the meantime, I'll try to find out what's wrong with Miss Evans."

"All right," McGonagall replied and hurried to the fireplace to call the Headmaster.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Five minutes later, McGonagall sat on the edge of Severus' bed, while the Headmaster coaxed a chair to float next to the bed and made himself comfortable. Dumbledore offered Minerva and Severus a lemon drop, which both of them declined politely.

"Excuse me, Professors, but would it be possible that Lily joined us too?" Severus asked in a small voice, giving Minerva a pleading look. '_She already knows everything and could help me explain_,' he mused, feeling very unsure with the professors, whom he hardly knew.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Snape," the teacher replied softly. "Miss Evans is very ill with the wizard's flu."

"Don't worry, my boy," the Headmaster spoke up gently. "Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey told me everything. In case of child abuse Madam Pomfrey is not bound to her Healer's oath towards me as the Headmaster of this school. Therefore, I merely need you to answer a few questions for me."

Seeing Severus hesitantly nod, he continued, "Is my assumption correct that it was your father, who inflicted your broken ribs as well as your other injuries?"

"Yes," Severus replied in a hardly audible voice, uncertainly pulling his bed cover up to his chin.

"Ten months of the year, you're going to spend at Hogwarts anyway. During this time, Professor Slughorn as your Head of House acts as your guardian. Would you like to return to your father during the holidays, or do you want one of us to become your guardian?"

"I'd like Professor McGonagall to become my guardian. I don't want to return to my father if it's not necessary," Severus answered hesitantly.

"Very well; there are two possibilities," the Headmaster continued, while Minerva gently stroked Severus' hot hand. "Either your father will willingly give up the guardianship over you, or we will need to have a trial. However, we will definitely win any trial with the evidence Madam Pomfrey gathered and is willing to place into a Pensieve. I shall go and speak with your father immediately."

"Thank you, Professor," Severus said hoarsely, and McGonagall noticed in concern that the numbers on his wrist band increased.

"Don't worry, Severus; everything will be all right," she said softly as she conjured a cool cloth and gently bathed his flushed face, causing him to close his eyes in relief.

Madam Pomfrey thoroughly checked on Lily, noticing that the wizard's flu was on the mend, even if more slowly as could be expected, but her fever and the infection in her throat seemed resistant against her potions. '_She must have a Muggle illness, but I have no idea what it is_,' she mused, feverishly trying to think of a way to make the girl feel better.

She had just filled Minerva in on her student's condition when a school owl swept into the room, carrying a letter for Lily. Seeing that the girl was asleep peacefully for once, the professor gently took the envelope from the owl, placing it on the night table.

"Minerva, are you feeling all right?" Madam Pomfrey asked in concern. "You look worse for wear today."

"Of course; I'm only tired. I had to get up and wake Miss Evans several times during the night. She was delirious."

'_She doesn't only look tired_,' Poppy mused, knowing the woman, who had been her best friend since their own Sorting, too well. '_I hope she won't come down with whatever Miss Evans is ailing_.'

Only in the afternoon, after Poppy had administered the next dose of potions, Lily was alert enough to read her letter. "It's from my mother," she croaked in surprise as she engrossed herself in the reading. "Oh no! Petunia didn't have a cold; she has scarlet fever. Do you think that is what I have?" She anxiously turned her eyes to look at the Mediwitch, whose face had turned white at the information.

"Since it is a Muggle disease, it won't show up at my scan. I have to contact the Muggle disease division of St. Mungo's and ask for help concerning your treatment and protective measures for the school in order to prevent a mass outbreak of scarlet fever," she decided and bustled away. At the door, she turned around once more. "Minerva, please do not leave your quarters until I tell you otherwise."

Poppy hurried back to her office and stood in front of the painting of Helga Hufflepuff. "Helga, I need the Muggle disease department of St. Mungo's."

Helga nodded and vanished from the picture, only to return a few minutes later with a young Healer in tow.

"Hello Madam Pomfrey. What can I do for you?" he queried gently.

"We have an outbreak of the Muggle scarlet fever and need an antidote for one sick person and several suspicious cases and if possible something preventive for the rest of the school," the Mediwitch explained quickly.

Five minutes later, the Healer stepped through the fireplace, a bag with Muggle medicine in his hand.

"Please show me to the infected person first," he said, following Madam Pomfrey to Lily's bedside. He pulled two wands out of his robe pocket and waved them over Lily simultaneously, frowning at the result.

"The girl is indeed suffering from the Muggle scarlet fever, but she has the wizard's flu at the same time. Unfortunately, the occurrence of a Muggle and a magical infection at the same time in most cases badly affects the patient's immune system," he explained, sighing. "She will probably be prone to illnesses in the future, but we have an additional problem. For the scarlet fever she needs Muggle antibiotics, but you can't give them at the same time as magical potions. Knowing that scarlet fever is the more dangerous of both illnesses, you have to heal that first, before you can continue the treatment against the wizard's flu." He handed Poppy a bottle with the antibiotic, giving her detailed instructions.

"For the rest of the school, you merely have to make the house-elves mix these preventive antibiotics into the meals for three days. In case someone already caught the disease, the patient needs the same treatment as our patient here," the Healer said, pointing to Lily. "Please keep me updated on further cases through Professor Hufflepuff."

"I will," Madam Pomfrey promised as she escorted the Healer back to the fireplace, thanking him profusely. She handed the preventive antibiotics to a house-elf and was just on her way back to Lily's room when the Headmaster entered the hospital wing, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"I trust everything went well, Headmaster?" Poppy queried.

"Yes, Poppy. Tobias Snape willingly gave up the guardianship over Severus, telling me he wouldn't want to have anything to do with the magical world anymore."

Poppy looked at Severus. A small smile was playing on the boy's lips that widened when the Headmaster took the seat he had occupied earlier and continued, "We only need your new guardian's signature on this parchment, and it will send itself to the Ministry for registration."

"Thank you, Professor," Severus said gratefully as Dumbledore slowly unwrapped a lemon drop, thoughtfully popping it into his mouth.

"Are you sure, my boy, that you want Professor McGonagall as your guardian?" the Headmaster asked gently. "I believe that all of our teachers, including myself, would be willing to take you in."

'_McGonagall is really nice, she won't hurt me, and I'd be able to remain friends with Lily_,' Severus mused, fiercely rubbing his forehead against the headache that had begun to pester him a few hours ago.

"Yes please, provided that Professor McGonagall agrees," he said hoarsely and let out a few harsh coughs, causing the Mediwitch to throw him a concerned glance and notice a small rash that was spreading over his neck from under his pyjamas.

"I believe Miss Evans was so kind as to share the scarlet fever with you," Madam Pomfrey said, sighing, and shooed the Headmaster out of the hospital wing, before she fetched a dose of the antibiotic from her office and made Severus take two spoonfuls. "Mr. Snape, are you feeling well enough to walk a few steps? I have to take you back to Professor McGonagall's quarters so as to not endanger the patients here, who are suffering from the wizard's flu. You may share the room with Miss Evans for the time being."

The Mediwitch gently supported Severus as she led him into the room Lily was currently occupying. She made him sit on a chair while she conjured a second bed and carefully tucked him in, before she turned to Minerva, who was sitting on the edge of Lily's bed, reading to her from '_The Tales of Beedle the Bard._'

"Minerva, your quarters are the quarantine zone for the time being. Mr. Snape already caught the scarlet fever. By the way, Albus brought the guardianship papers. Only your signature is needed for the transfer of the guardianship from Mr. Snape's father to you." She handed her friend the parchments Dumbledore had left on Severus' night table earlier.

"Are you sure, Mr. Snape, that you want me to become your guardian?" McGonagall turned to Severus, who was anxiously watching her and let out an affirmative reply.

"Very well." The professor signed the parchment, which rolled itself up and vanished into thin air.

"Minerva, you'll probably be the next on bed rest," Poppy sighed, worriedly taking in her friend's glassy eyes and the beads of sweat covering her forehead.

"I won't do you the favour, Poppy; I'm fine," the professor replied against better knowledge and casually changed the topic. "Poppy, don't you have to be in quarantine as well?"

Madam Pomfrey let out a deep sigh. "I know, Minerva, and I'm already thinking of asking Granny if she could come and watch over the hospital wing for a few days." In fact, she was already feeling unwell and knew she probably had caught the illness from the students, but Minerva was the last to whom she would admit the fact. "We should enlarge this room to make space for two more beds, so that I can look after all of you together. I believe no one else needs to be quarantined right now," she said thoughtfully.

McGonagall called a house-elf and instructed him to enlarge the room to a tiny hospital room with four beds, before she turned back to Pomfrey. "Well, Poppy, go and call your grandmother." While her friend headed to the fireplace and convinced the old lady, who in earlier years had been the Mediwitch at Hogwarts, that she was needed at the castle, she retreated to her bedroom to change her formal school clothes against comfortable scarlet pyjamas and her emerald green bath robes.

When McGonagall returned to the enlarged guest room, Severus was sitting on the edge of Lily's bed, comforting a sobbing Lily.

"Mr. Snape, back to bed this instant!" Poppy ordered the boy and gently helped him, while Minerva sat on the edge of Lily's bed, speaking to her student in a soft voice.

"Miss Evans, what's wrong?"

"It's all my fault," Lily sobbed. "Now you're all getting ill just because I brought the scarlet fever into the castle, and Severus was already so sick even before he caught it."

"That's all right, Lily. It's not your fault, and Severus will be all right in a few days' time just as will you. Now, calm down and try to sleep for a while, hmm?"

"Okay, thank you, Professor," Lily whispered, feeling very much consoled, and obediently closed her eyes.

McGonagall gently straightened her covers and stepped over to Severus, sitting on his side.

"Thank you, Professor," Severus whispered as she gently patted his hand, "for taking me in so I don't have to return to my father."

"You're very welcome, Severus, and since I'm your guardian now, you needn't call me 'Professor' in private. My first name is 'Minerva'," the teacher replied softly.

"Minerva, get into bed this instant," Madam Pomfrey suddenly re-entered the room interrupting their conversation.

"Why should I? I'm fine," McGonagall protested, glaring daggers at her friend.

The Mediwitch let out a snort, pointing her wand at her friend's head. "Well, you're running a temperature of 39.2 degrees. If you still feel fine..."

The appearance of an older lady in the doorframe interrupted her rant. "Poppy, I'm here."

"Hello Theresa," McGonagall greeted her best friend's grandmother as she grudgingly retired to her bed.

"Granny!" Madam Pomfrey blurted out in relief. "I'm glad you could come. You shouldn't come in here, because these three are ill with the Muggle scarlet fever and I should put myself in quarantine. I will look after them; could you please tend to my other patients in the hospital wing?"

Her grandmother snorted. "Of course I will look after them, just as I'm going to look after the four of you. Now, off to bed with you, Poppy!"

"Me?" the Mediwitch asked incredulously. "I'm fine, and I'm well able to look after my patients here. You should leave this room immediately."

"I've already begun to take the antibiotics and I'll be fine. I have experienced scarlet fever here at Hogwarts fifty years ago but didn't catch it from my patients, but I can see from here that you're ill with a high fever. Now stop arguing," Theresa growled, pointing to the empty bed.

When Pomfrey opened her mouth to contradict, Severus and Minerva couldn't help laughing, but Lily let out a frightened cry and began to sob again, obviously captured in a fever-induced nightmare.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Theresa queried, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"A lion," Lily blurted out, pointing to Poppy, who was angrily growling at her grandmother.

"Ah, but that's not a lion, that's my stubborn granddaughter. There is nothing worse than a sick Mediwitch," the old Mediwitch informed the girl, gently bathing her hot face.

"Is Severus all right?" Lily asked anxiously.

"If that's the young man at the other side of the room, he is just laughing about my granddaughter's antics. Yes, he is all right," Theresa said soothingly, watching in relief as the girl calmed down and closed her eyes.

"Poppy, this is the last time I tell you to go to bed; the text time, it will be more uncomfortable," Theresa threatened, causing Poppy to grudgingly retreat to the bed next to her friend's, angrily muttering to herself.

Minerva unobtrusively raised her wand, transfiguring Poppy's clothes into comfortable yellow pyjamas with a large, roaring lion in the front, surprised when her friend merely thanked her instead of getting angry. '_Poppy must really feel bad; normally, she'd have killed me for that_,' she mused as she allowed herself to lie down, sighing in relief as her head met the soft pillow.

Theresa gently checked on Lily and Severus and made them take two spoonfuls of the antibiotic each, before she sat on the edge of Minerva's bed and thoroughly checked on her. "You're lucky that Poppy realized you're ill so early. You'll probably get away with it without developing a rash like Lily and Severus. Nevertheless, you're on absolute bed rest until I tell you otherwise," she added sternly, sliding a wrist band over Minerva's left hand, and made her take her medicine, before she headed to her granddaughter.

"Poppy, it was a very wise decision to call me," she said softly. "You're as ill as Minerva. Now try to sleep and stay in bed. Don't worry; I'm well able to look after everyone here." With that, she tried to attach a wrist band to Poppy's arm.

However, Poppy angrily crossed her arms. "No, Granny. I'm not a student, and I'm well able to look after myself. I'm fine anyway."

_tbc..._


	3. 3

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Poppy, stop being ridiculous and comply this instant!" Theresa scolded the Mediwitch, turning to her other three patients, who were watching the scene with interest and amusement. "I didn't know that Muggle scarlet fever causes people to become so childish."

"Poppy, that's just what you're doing to the students and us all the time in spite of our protests. Now stop it; your granny has other things to do," Minerva admonished her friend, hating how hoarse her voice sounded.

Apparently feeling too weak to further protest, Poppy grudgingly gave in, and Theresa excused herself for the night, knowing that she would have to check on her patients every now and then, considering that at least Lily was already having fever induced dreams.

Theresa had just finished checking on the students in the hospital wing, when the alarm she had placed on her scarlet fever patients' wrist bands alerted her she was needed in the quarantine room. She entered the room, taking in that Minerva was sitting on the edge of Severus' bed, gently comforting the boy.

"Severus, you're safe at Hogwarts. Your father is not here, and he wouldn't even been able to see the castle let alone get inside," Minerva croaked, gently wiping the boy's flushed face with a cold cloth.

"But he was here, right over there," Severus insisted hoarsely, pointing to the door.

"No, Severus, that's impossible," Minerva said tiredly. "You're safe here. Our quarters are warded against any intruders. Only Madam Pomfrey, her grandmother, and the Headmaster are able to access this room."

"Promise?" Severus queried, throwing her an anxious look.

"Promise," Minerva replied, smiling at the boy.

"Minerva, I'm sorry, but I need you to go to bed. Your fever is spiking right now, and it won't get better if you don't rest. I'll take over here," Theresa threw in firmly.

Minerva opened her mouth to protest, but Severus mumbled, "Thank you, Mum," before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Am I delirious, or did he really call me 'Mum'?" Minerva whispered as she lay down on her bed.

"Probably both, my dear," Theresa replied softly, gently tucking Minerva in. After checking Lily's and Poppy's wrist bands, she returned to Poppy's quarters to get some rest.

At three o'clock in the morning, the next alarm went off, and Theresa tiredly returned to the quarantine room, wondering what was wrong now.

Entering the temporary hospital room, Theresa saw Poppy sitting on the edge of Minerva's bed, gently comforting her friend.

"It's all right, Minnie. Albus won't transfigure _everything_ in your classroom into lemon drops, only a few things, which you'll be able to reverse again later on. We can ask the house-elves to flood his office with lemon drops, so he'll want to get rid of them. Do you want me to do that?"

Minerva sighed in relief. "Poppy, you're the best," she mumbled hoarsely as she drifted back to sleep, feeling very reassured by her friend's kind and understanding words.

"Poppy, off to bed with you!" Theresa said sternly.

"Oh Granny, I'm fine, and Minnie is my patient," Poppy croaked, annoyed.

"She is not your patient but mine for the time being. Now lie down and go to sleep. You should know better than to get up in your condition."

"Oh no!" Poppy blurted out as she lay down and sat up again within seconds. "I told the house-elves to flood the Headmaster's office with lemon drops, but knowing Albus, he's going to eat them all, and he'll make himself sick. I'm sorry, Granny, but I have to go and..." She slowly trailed off, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.

"No Poppy," Theresa replied firmly. "You're delirious with a high fever, and you're going to stay in bed." With that, she waved her wand at her granddaughter, applying a soft sticking charm on the woman that would still allow her to turn around but not to get up.

"What the..."

"Poppy, easy. Just try to rest and not aggravate your condition. I'm here, and you only have to concentrate on getting better. There's nothing else you have to do," Theresa said softly, causing Poppy to finally drift back to sleep.

The next time Theresa's alarm went off, Severus was sitting on the chair next to Lily's bed, frantically whispering, "Help, Lily, help!"

Theresa gently led the protesting boy back to his bed, tucked him in, and took a seat on the edge of his bed. "Now tell me what's wrong, sweetie," she said in a soft voice.

Severus threw her a panicked look as he began to whisper, "It's my father, Madam. I saw him earlier. He was here, but the professor said he couldn't see me here. But if he can't get to me, maybe he'll go after Lily. He knows she's my best friend, and he might hurt her. I must do something to protect her."

Theresa gently wiped the pearls of sweat that were building on his forehead with a cool cloth. "Severus, would you like to tell me exactly what happened? It often helps to speak about things," she queried in spite of knowing exactly what had happened from his card, on which Poppy had recorded everything.

"Okay," Severus mumbled tiredly, somehow knowing he could trust the old lady completely. "I don't know if you knew my mother, Eileen Prince..."

"Yes, I did. She was an amazing woman and a brilliant Potions Mistress."

"She taught me to brew when I was very small, and I love brewing potions, but my father hates it when I brew, and he always punished me afterwards, especially after my Mum died a few years ago. Professor McGonagall noticed that he hurt me and took the guardianship from him, so I don't need to go back to him, but I'm afraid he might come here to punish me, or he might try to do something to Lily instead."

"This castle is charmed so that Muggles aren't able to see it. Your father can't come here, and as far as I'm informed, your father willingly gave up the guardianship over you. So why should he want to come and hurt you or your friend?"

"Because he hates everything magical," Severus mumbled, sounding not very certain about his fear anymore.

"Can you promise me to keep it for you, if I tell you something about your new mother? It's something I know because she is my granddaughter's best friend and not because she was my patient at that time."

"I promise," Severus whispered, throwing the old Mediwitch a curious look.

Theresa sighed and slowly began to explain, "Minerva's mother died very early just like yours, and her father, who was a Muggle, married again. However, his new wife was obviously jealous of Minerva, not only because of the very good relationship she had with her father, but because of being magical. One day during the summer holidays, Minerva showed up on our doorstep, very ill but neglected by her stepmother, and we took her in. From that time onwards, she always came home together with Poppy. She has always been my second granddaughter since then. I'm glad she became your guardian, Severus. With Minerva you're in good hands."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, for telling me this," Severus whispered gratefully. "I really appreciate it, and I won't tell anyone."

"Very well, and now I believe it's time for you to sleep." Theresa carefully adjusted the cool cloth to his forehead and smothered his covers, before she slowly stood up as his breathing evened out.

HP

Later that day, Theresa was sitting on the edge of Poppy's bed, thoroughly examining her throat and ears in spite of her granddaughter's protests of annoyance.

"Let me tell you something, Poppy," she said thoughtfully as she gently bathed her hot face with a cool sponge. "I miss my work here. I know it's already twenty-five years since I retired as soon as you finished your exams, but I still miss it."

Poppy let out a long sigh and reached for her grandmother's cool hand. "Granny, why don't you come and live with me here at Hogwarts? I'd be glad to have you here, and I could very well use some help. It's so much work here for one person, and I'm often so tired, because I have to spend the night sitting up with a student only to have to heal fifty students in the morning, who used their first class of the day to hex each other. And then I have to run after my colleagues, who normally don't want to accept they're sick and have to stay in bed..."

Theresa quietly listened to her granddaughter's fevered babbling, gently patting her hand. "I'll speak with the Headmaster and ask what he thinks about the plan, and if he agrees, the two of us will talk about it again as soon as you're completely back to health and not delirious anymore," she finally said, standing up. "Try to sleep for a while, Poppy, I'll be back shortly."

'_I have to careful not to tell Poppy that Albus caught the scarlet fever, too_,' she mused as she stepped into the fireplace to take the Floo to the Headmaster's private quarters to check on him, make sure he stayed in bed, and speak with him about her granddaughter's idea, which she liked a lot.

The Headmaster was sitting at his desk with a pile of parchments and a huge bowl of lemon drops in front of him.

"Hello Theresa, what a nice surprise on this fine morning. Would you care for a lemon drop?" he greeted the old Mediwitch, who threw him an exasperated glare.

"No thank you, Albus. I merely came to put you back to bed and to check on you."

"Ah, but..."

"No buts. Come on, Albus." She gently helped the older man to stand up and steadied him on his way back to his private quarters. "Now, you will stay in bed until I'll tell you otherwise," she said sternly as she checked if the alarm on his wrist band was still in place and firmly tucked him in. "I will know if you need me or are in any trouble."

"But... Could I at least have my lemon drops, please?" Albus queried pleadingly, "and my personal edition of '_The Tales of Beedle the Bard_.' It's over there."

Theresa fetched the book for the Headmaster, forbade him to eat any more lemon drops for now, realizing he must have eaten a lot of them instead of breakfast, and returned to the hospital wing. '_There's no chance to speak with him about Poppy's idea as long as he is delirious and on a sugar high_,' she mused as she headed back into the quarantine room.

HP

It took three days, before Theresa grudgingly allowed Minerva and Poppy out of bed and two more days, before all five patients including Albus had finished their doses of the antibiotics and the Mediwitch could continue to treat Lily with the potion against the still lingering wizard's flu, while Minerva and Severus went back to their classes.

"Will we be able to catch up?" Severus asked Minerva in concern when he came to see Lily after his last afternoon class. "Lily and I missed a whole week of classes."

"Don't worry about that, Severus. Lily will probably be allowed to get up tomorrow, so you'll be able to study together if you want. It won't be a problem for you to catch up, and you may come and ask me at anytime," Minerva replied gently. "By the way, Severus, I asked the house-elves to add an additional room to our quarters. Seeing that you and I are family now, you need to have your own room here. It's right next to this one."

"My own room?" Severus asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow at the teacher.

"Of course you need your own room. You can't stay in your dormitory during the summer for example, and don't forget our quarters are your new home now. The Headmaster brought all your belongings with him the other day. You may even stay in your room during the school year; however, you always have to inform your Head of House or ask me to Floo-call him if you decide to spend the night here," Minerva informed him firmly, causing Severus to nod his agreement.

"Of course, I will do that. May I go and have a look?" Seeing his guardian nod, he dashed into the next room, only to stop dead in his tracks.

The room was absolutely beautiful. It was held in different shades of green and blue, had a comfortable looking four poster bed, a huge wardrobe, a bookshelf, a desk with two chairs, and a breathtaking magical window that changed between random views over the Hogwarts grounds.

"The room is absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much for giving me such a great room," Severus told Minerva as soon as he had managed to pull himself away from the window.

"You're welcome, sweetie. I'm glad you like it. I'd like to suggest something to you," Minerva said thoughtfully. "Considering that I'm your guardian now, I believe it would be good if we got to know each other better. Would you like to spend the weekends in your own room for a while?"

"I'd like that very much," Severus replied, and a small smile played on his face.

During the next few weeks, Severus and Lily spent most of their free time together in Severus' room studying. Only in time for curfew, they returned to their respective Houses.

Unfortunately, the Healer from St. Mungo's had been correct with his prediction and Lily's immune system had been badly damaged by the two illnesses she had caught at the same time. Whenever any of her classmates or roommates came down with something, Lily could be sure to catch it from them, and since Madam Pomfrey was afraid she would catch something else in the open hospital wing, McGonagall always made the girl stay in her guest room.

Severus' immune system had also suffered damage at the same time, even if not as badly as Lily's, and since he wouldn't leave Lily's side when she was ill, his guardian could be sure that he would catch whatever Lily had.

Over the months, not only Severus became very close to his new guardian, but also Lily became like a daughter to McGonagall.

'_I'll try to invent a potion to help her immune system_,' Severus mused one evening, while he sat on a chair in the guest room observing his guardian comfort Lily, who had just thrown up for the third time. '_I know what I'm going to do_,' he finally decided and jumped up from his seat.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," he whispered to Minerva, before he dashed away through the connecting door into the hospital wing.

HP

"Madam Pomfrey, may I disturb you for a moment?" Severus asked politely as he stepped into the Mediwitches' office, where Poppy and Theresa were just discussing the day's events in order for Theresa to be informed about everything before the beginning of her night shift.

"Of course, Severus, what's wrong? Are you feeling ill, too?" Poppy queried, throwing him a sharp look.

"No. At least not yet," Severus smirked. "I thought of something. I... I'd like to try to invent a potion for Lily's immune system, but I'm looking for a place to brew. In the Potions classroom, there are the older students, who always tease me because they don't know that I can brew potions, and I can't concentrate with Malfoy and his friends breathing into my neck. So I thought maybe I could use the small Potions lab behind your office," he added in a small voice.

Madam Pomfrey remained thoughtful for a moment. "You could use our lab, provided that my grandmother or I are here in our office, because we can't let you do Potions experiments completely without supervision. However, sometimes I have to use the lab myself. We're both not very fond of brewing, but Professor Slughorn is often too busy to brew potions for the hospital wing." '_In fact he is not too busy, but he prefers to gather his fans and have parties_,' she thought grimly.

"I could brew the potions for you," Severus offered shyly, and a small smile played on his lips.

'_I can't let an eleven-year-old brew the potions for the hospital wing_,' Madam Pomfrey mused. '_On the other hand, Lily told me that his mother taught him from the age of two years onwards, and she was an excellent Potions Mistress. I can assume that he knows what he is doing_.' "Very well," she said aloud, throwing her grandmother a questioning look that was answered with an unobtrusive nod of agreement. "I'd really appreciate it, if you could help me in busy times."

"We'd like you to inform us beforehand if you plan to do experiments with unknown potions though," Theresa threw in sternly.

"I will," Severus promised sincerely. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. Err, do you perhaps know the password to the gargoyle in front of the Headmaster's office? I have to speak with Professor Dumbledore about something."

"It is '_Liquorice Wands_' I believe," the older Mediwitch replied pensively.

Severus was just on his way back through the hospital wing, when he felt his stomach churn. Not sure if he would make it to the bathroom in Minerva's and his quarters, he dashed into the toilets of the hospital wing, just in time for his stomach to relieve itself of its content.

'_Oh no! That was exactly what I needed now. Well, I have to speak with Dumbledore. Considering that I didn't eat much today, I should be all right for a while_,' he mused, heading in the direction of the Headmaster's office.


	4. 4

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Severus, my boy, what can I do for you?" Dumbledore greeted him friendly, offering him a lemon drop.

"No, thank you, Professor," Severus replied politely, feeling his stomach churn at the thought of a sweet. "Professor, I'd like to ask you for your help," he hesitantly began to explain the reason for his visit. "My mother had a Potions library in my father's house, and I'd like to retrieve her complete library. I love to brew potions, and I'd like to do some research to invent a potion to help my friend Lily, who has problems with her immune system, but I need a few books from the library for my research. I'm afraid my father will burn the whole library down, if I don't get the books out of there soon."

The Headmaster thoughtfully popped a lemon drop into his mouth. "I was afraid of the same thing," he admitted. "Therefore, I brought the whole library with me and asked my personal house-elf to drop the books in the library of Prince Manor. I don't know if you're aware of the fact that you are the rightful owner of Prince Manor. Did your mother take you to her ancestor's home from time to time?"

Severus brought the index fingers of both hands up to fiercely rub his forehead against the dull ache behind his temples. "I remember that she brought me to a large manor when I was very small, but when my father found out about it he became very angry, and we didn't go there again. Would it be possible for me to visit the manor and retrieve a few books?"

Dumbledore pensively stroked his beard. "I don't see any reason why not," he finally stated. "You should speak with your guardian about the matter and ask her to take you to Prince Manor on the weekend. If you know the exact title of a book you need, you can even ask a house-elf to fetch it for you. Prince Manor also owns several house-elves, who would be thrilled to help you out, my boy."

Feeling that his stomach was beginning to churn again, Severus quickly thanked the Headmaster and excused himself, hurrying back through the hospital wing into the guest room, which he had begun to think of as 'Lily's room' since she was staying there so often.

"Severus, where were you?" Lily asked in obvious concern. "Professor McGonagall was frantically looking for you. She seemed a bit upset, but I have no idea why."

"Well, she'll find me here then," Severus said evenly, trying to keep his angry stomach at bay. "How're you feeling?" he asked softly, while he gently wiped her flushed face.

"Well, it'll be better tomorrow," Lily replied quietly, before she suddenly groaned. "Oh no, I know why Professor McGonagall is so upset. We forgot that we had to serve detention in the Potions classroom tonight. Professor Slughorn probably told her that we didn't show up."

"Oh no!" Severus said horrified. "I completely forgot about that. I think I'm going to pretend being sick. Good night, Lily." Ignoring the girl's surprised look, he hurried out of the room, reaching the bathroom right in time for his stomach to relief itself. Seeing that his guardian was nowhere around, he took a bucket with him into his room and quietly went to bed, feeling worse by the minute.

Severus had just thrown up for the third time and scourgified the bucket, glad that the older Madam Pomfrey had taught him the spell a few weeks ago when he was looking after a sick Lily, when his guardian entered the room in a totally upset mood.

"Severus, I'm very angry. It's bad enough that you managed to earn yourself a detention, but how could you skip the detention without a word to anyone? Since Lily is sick, I could excuse her, but you just lost fifty points for your House. Can you explain why you received detention in the first place?"

Severus sighed. "We were supposed to brew on our own, but Lily was just beginning to stir clockwise instead of anti-clockwise, and her potion would have exploded if I hadn't corrected her. Well, Slughorn thought that was enough to give us both detention," he explained in a small voice.

"All right. In my opinion, this might be excusable, but if Professor Slughorn assigns detention, you have to accept that and can't just ignore his orders.

"I'm sorry, Minerva," Severus replied weakly, his voice causing his guardian to throw him a sharp look.

"Oh no! Severus, are you ill as well?" she queried, shocked of having scolded him on top of being sick.

"It's all right, I'll be fine," Severus mumbled, closing his eyes against the too bright light. He blinked when he felt an ice cold hand on his forehead and heard Minerva whisper something about calling Poppy. He barely noticed the Mediwitch's voice before he succumbed to the potions she had spelled into his system and drifted off to sleep.

When Severus' foggy mind turned back to awareness, the morning light was streaming in through the charmed window, and Lily was sitting on the edge of his bed, huddled into her blankets, gently wiping the sweat from his temples with a cool cloth.

"Good morning, sleepy head," she said softly.

"Lily! Are you allowed to get up already?" Severus wondered aloud, causing the girl to giggle.

"No, but I missed you, and since your new mother is in class..." She interrupted herself. "Did you know," her expression darkened considerably, "that it's Halloween today?"

Severus looked at her in surprise. "Oh, I completely forgot about that. I should get up and head to class, so that we can attend the party tonight."

Lily let out a snort, reaching for his wrist to get a look on his wrist band. "I don't think so, Sev. You're running a fever, and I can tell you from my own experience of two hours earlier that your stomach will act up again as soon as you try to eat something. We definitely won't attend classes today, and I must tell you something."

"Lily, you should go back to bed," Severus said worriedly, noticing that she began to shiver violently.

"Not now," Lily said shortly. "You know I always liked Halloween, going out with you and Petunia, but ever since we came to Hogwarts I'm dreading Halloween. I don't know why, but I feel something bad is going to happen, not necessarily tonight, but... I don't know," she finished, shrugging.

"Lily, everything will be all right," Severus replied soothingly. "Now, let me take you back to your room. You need to go back to bed."

"Miss Evans, what do you think you're doing here?" a stern voice interrupted their conversation, making both students cringe.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I had such a bad dream that I had to come and speak with Severus," Lily explained in a shaky voice, giving her Head of House an apologetic look.

"Severus, do you want to join Lily in the living room and lie down on the sofa?" McGonagall asked, hesitantly, not sure if she really wanted the students to share a room, since she didn't find it appropriate. On the other hand, she felt very sorry for the two sick first-years and didn't want to force them to spend their sick day separately.

"I'd like that," Severus replied tiredly. He scrambled out of bed and slowly followed Lily into the living room, waving Minerva off when she wanted to steady him. "I'm all right," he said indignantly, patiently waiting for Minerva to conjure a second sofa for him.

McGonagall tucked both students in warm blankets and instructed them to only get up if they had to use the bathroom. "I'll check on you again after my next class." With that, she headed back to her classroom, leaving the doors to her office and to the classroom slightly ajar.

"Lily," Severus turned to his friend. "Tell me, what exactly happened. Do you just have this bad feeling for Halloween, or did you have a nightmare?"

Lily let out a desperate sigh. "Severus, I'm sorry to bother you with that; I know it probably means nothing, but I had this dream now for the second time, and it was exactly the same. Sev, do you remember when you showed me the scene of what your father did to you last year? On the playground? Can you watch my memory just like you showed me yours?"

Severus frowned. Lily was the only person knowing that he was a natural Legilimens. However, it was very tiring. '_I shouldn't do that while I'm sick_,' he mused, '_but Lily seems so desperate about it..._' "All right, Lily, I'll try," he finally promised and scrambled out of bed.

Sitting down on the edge of her sofa, he instructed her, "Look straight into my eyes, don't look away, and think about the dream you had."

"Okay," Lily replied and looked straight into her friend's eyes, feeling very relieved that he was willing to share the bad dream with her. An instant later, she felt a sharp pain in her head that slightly receded after a few seconds. '_Oh right, I have to concentrate on the memory_,' she remembered, hurriedly trying to concentrate on her dream.

Severus tried to access his friend's mind very gently so as not to hurt her. Instead of a memory, he found her thoughts of gratefulness towards himself at the front of her mind. '_Lily, the memory_,' he thought urgently, knowing he couldn't keep the connection upright for too long in order not to aggravate their conditions.

Fortunately, Lily seemed to understand his thought, and suddenly a scene began to develop in front of his eyes.

_Lily and Severus were in a room, which was decorated for Halloween. They were talking with two other people, a man and a woman, which Severus didn't recognize quickly enough as the attention was drawn to a crib, containing two small kids. Suddenly, a voice yelled something, and he could see a green light move quickly towards the children, who began to scream so loud that his head exploded in pain and he quickly drew off the memory, gripping his head with both hands._

"Severus, are you all right?" Lily asked in concern.

"I'm sorry, Lily, yes. Legilimency is very strenuous. That was a strange dream. We were adults in it, weren't we?"

"Yes. I don't know who was with us. It could be Alice and James, but I'm not sure," Lily said thoughtfully, throwing Severus a sharp look. "I'm sorry, Severus. I didn't want you to make yourself worse."

"It's all right, Lily, I'm just thinking about the dream. I don't know what to think of it. It just seems like a bad dream. On the other hand, if you already saw it twice, maybe you're a Seer, able to see into the future. This scene will occur about ten years into the future, if it's real. Did you have other dreams that showed you scenes of the future?"

"I don't think so, although I'm not sure," Lily replied pensively. "Anyway, thanks for sharing the dream with me. It might sound stupid, but I feel much better now."

"You're welcome. I'll always be willing to share your bad dreams," Severus replied softly and went back to bed, sighing in relief as he lay down.

HP

Later in the afternoon, Theresa came to check on Lily and Severus.

"Miss Evans, you may attend the Halloween feast for a short while if you wish. I'll instruct the house-elves to serve a diet menu for you, and you have to come back immediately if you feel worse," the Mediwitch said gently, before she turned to Severus.

"Mr. Snape, I'm afraid you'll have to stay in bed for another day. I'm sorry about the Halloween feast," she said softly, causing Severus to sigh.

"I don't mind. I have too much of a headache anyway," he mumbled.

"I'll get you a headache potion," Theresa promised. "Do you feel well enough to try to eat something?"

"No, thank you."

"Maybe we can try to eat a bit together," Lily threw in. "I prefer staying with Severus instead of attending the Halloween feast."

Severus smiled. "Thank you, Lily, for staying with me." He gulped down the headache potion Theresa handed him and waited until the Mediwitch had returned to the hospital wing, before he stood up from the sofa. "I'll be back in a minute, Lily. I have an idea how we could spend the evening."

Severus headed to his own room only to come back to the living room a few minutes later with a wooden box, which he set on the table, before he returned to the sofa.

"Lily, this is a wizard's chess set," he explained, seeing her curious look. "Minerva showed me how to play wizard's chess, but we only used it twice so far. Do you perhaps know how to play, or would you be interested to learn?" he asked hesitantly, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, Severus. That sounds very interesting," Lily replied eagerly as she sat on the edge of his sofa and reached for the box. She carefully lifted the lid and hesitantly took out a rook. "Oh Sev, this is amazing," she breathed, admiring the handmade, intricate chess piece, before she reached out for the knight.

"Well, then let me show you how to play," Severus said in determination and explained the moves each of the pieces could make.

"Oh well, I don't know if I already remembered everything, but let's try it out," Lily suggested after a while, throwing him a concerned glance. "Are you feeling well enough though? You're still running a fever."

"I'm fine," Severus replied, rolling his eyes. "Let's try it out. Do you want black or white?"

"White," Lily replied, chuckling in anticipation as she took her seat on the other sofa.

They played several rounds of wizard's chess, and Severus realised that Lily understood fast how to play and was very adept at developing a strategy. However, after an hour of playing, Lily noticed that Severus looked exhausted.

"Sev, let's continue later tonight or tomorrow. You should rest for a while, and you also have to try to eat something," she said softly as she stepped around the table and sat on the side of his sofa, glancing at his wrist band that still showed a much higher figure than her own.

"I don't want anything right now, but you should eat something," Severus mumbled tiredly, just when Minerva entered the room to check on them.

HP

In the morning, Lily was allowed to attend classes, while Poppy decided Severus wasn't well enough to get up and had to spend another day in bed.

"I'll come back during lunch break, Sev, and we can still do our homework together after the last afternoon class. It's Friday anyway," Lily said soothingly, seeing the disappointment on his face, before she left to get her book bag from Gryffindor.

Severus waited until Minerva had left for her first class too, before he fetched parchment and a quill, deep in thoughts.

Severus set the writing utensils on the shelf next to his bed, on which several potions books were piled up. He spent the whole morning flipping through the books in research for possible ingredients for the potion he wanted to invent for Lily, taking notes whenever he found something that could be of interest. During the last few weeks, he had already spent many hours on his study, but so far, he hadn't been able to come up with a potion that was even likely to help his friend.

Severus was so engrossed in his research that he didn't notice Poppy enter the room and flinched back badly when he felt a cold hand on his forehead.

_tbc..._


	5. 5

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"Mr. Snape, you'll stop studying immediately. I will not have you further aggravate your condition. Otherwise, I'm going to take you with me to the hospital wing."

"I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey, but I'm fine, really," Severus replied, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, I can see that," the Mediwitch replied sternly, glancing at Severus' breakfast, which sat untouched on the table. "Put your books away and eat your breakfast, Mr. Snape. It's nearly lunchtime."

"I'm not hungry," Severus said, annoyed, piling his books back on the shelf.

"I'm afraid you have to eat something. You didn't eat anything yesterday either, and not eating won't help you get better. Your fever should have come down already," Poppy told him in a much softer voice, stricken with concern. "Please lie down and let me check on you."

Poppy cast several diagnostic spells, before she pointed her wand at his head to take his temperature, only to confirm the numbers on the wrist band were correct. Sighing, she sat on the edge of his bed, giving him a sharp look. "Mr. Snape, how are you feeling? Does anything hurt apart from your stomach?"

"No," Severus replied, "I feel fine, perhaps a bit feverish and my head hurts a bit, but other than that I'm fine."

"Is there anything you think you would like to eat?" Poppy queried, causing Severus to lightly shake his head.

"No."

"Well, in that case, you have to eat a bowl of chicken noodle soup. I need to know if you're able to keep the soup down, because I'm not sure what causes your fever. I'm going to make you some soup myself. You'll like it. I'll be back in twenty minutes."

"Okay," Severus replied politely, groaning inwardly.

HP

A few minutes later, Lily and Minerva were just about to enter the room when Theresa motioned them to wait in the living room for a moment. "Poppy is very concerned about him, because his recovery seems to take longer than anticipated. I just want to take a look at him."

"Very well," Minerva said thoughtfully. "In that case we should head to the Great Hall for lunch first, don't you think so, Lily?"

"No, stay here, please," Theresa threw in, smiling at Minerva. "Poppy is just cooking soup for Severus, and as you know, Minerva, her self-made soup is delicious. Maybe it'll be easier to coax Severus into eating a little in your company."

Minerva and Lily agreed, and Theresa bustled into Severus' room.

"Hello Severus, how're you feeling today?" Theresa queried, training her wand on the boy, taking in the dark rings under his eyes and his flushed cheeks.

"Hello Madam Pomfrey. I'm fine," Severus replied, lazily opening his eyes. He had just been on the verge of drifting off to sleep.

"Very well, in that case you won't mind getting up and accompanying me to the living room to eat some soup Poppy is just making for you." Theresa threw him an assessing look.

"Okay," Severus grudgingly agreed and scrambled out of bed, throwing his bathrobe over his pyjamas.

"Afterwards, you're going back to bed straight away, and you will remain in bed without getting up, without studying or doing anything else apart from resting. Do you understand me?" Theresa continued firmly, noticing that he was slightly unstable on his feet.

Severus cringed under her stern glare. "Yes, Madam Pomfrey," he replied obediently, slightly shivering as he followed the older Mediwitch into the living room.

"Hi Sev, how're you feeling?" Lily enquired, smiling happily as he sat down next to her on the sofa.

"Fine; how were classes?" Severus efficiently changed the topic.

Lily groaned. "History of Magic was very boring; all about these uninteresting Goblin wars. You didn't miss anything. And Potions was a disaster. I really need some tutoring if you have time during the weekend."

"Of course I have time," Severus said soothingly, causing the older Madam Pomfrey to loudly clear her throat, just when Poppy arrived with a huge bowl of soup.

"Is everything all right, Granny?" Poppy asked in concern as she placed the soup on the table and summoned five plates and spoons.

"Yes, but according to my diagnostic spell, Severus has a light gastritis. Therefore, he is on absolute bed rest until you or I tell him otherwise," Theresa replied firmly.

Severus rolled his eyes in exasperation, tuning his guardian's voice out as she worriedly spoke with Poppy and Theresa. He only looked up when Lily soothingly laid her hand on his arm.

"Please, Sev, I'll keep you company if they let me, but now, you need to eat something." She handed him his spoon, before she took her own in her hand and began to eat, glad to see he slowly followed her example. "Oh, this soup is the most delicious I've ever tasted," she said in amazement, throwing Severus a concerned glance.

"Yes, it's really good," he replied and slowly continued eating half of his soup, before he pushed his plate away and averted his eyes to the floor, so that no one would be able to meet his eyes and demand he ate more. To Severus' luck, the adults seemed to be contented with the amount he ate, and he was able to keep the soup down. Nevertheless, the two Mediwitches kept him in bed over the whole weekend, until his condition finally improved. Minerva and Lily took turns staying with him whenever he was awake, before Poppy or Theresa came to throw them out so Severus could get some much needed rest.

During these days, Severus had a lot of time to think, which he used to ponder about the potion that he wanted to invent for Lily, before another thought slowly crept into his mind and pushed everything else to the back. '_Maybe I should just ask Minerva, but on the other hand, I don't want her to think I'm too impolite_,' he mused, unsure if he should talk to Lily first.

On Sunday morning, Severus hesitantly turned to his guardian. "Minerva, do you have to remain at Hogwarts during the whole Christmas holidays, or would it be possible for us to spend a few days at Prince Manor, if you don't mind?"

"I'll have to speak with the other Heads of House and I have to see how many students remain in the castle over the holidays. The Headmaster will most definitely want me to spend Christmas at Hogwarts; however, I already thought about taking you to McGonagall Manor for a few days," Minerva replied thoughtfully. "Shall I try to get a few days off before Christmas to spend at McGonagall Manor and a few days after Christmas so we can spend some time at Prince Manor as well?"

"I don't mind staying at McGonagall Manor, if we could spend some time at Prince Manor in summer then," Severus said pensively, "although I thought perhaps I could invite Lily to Prince Manor for a few days."

"Of course you can invite Miss Evans, even if we're staying at McGonagall Manor," Minerva said softly. "It's a large manor, just like Prince Manor, and of course you can invite your friends home."

"Won't you mind?" Severus queried, throwing his guardian a sharo look.

"No, of course not. Miss Evans is a very nice girl, and I've already become used to her being inseparable from you," Minerva replied, smirking.

"Thank you," Severus replied, letting out a relieved yawn.

"You're welcome, Severus. Now try to sleep for a while. You can ask Miss Evans when she comes to visit you later on, and I'll speak with my colleagues at lunchtime," Minerva promised and left the room, remembering Poppy's order to let the boy sleep along with her explanation that at least one of the reasons for Severus to catch gastritis had probably been stress.

Two minutes later, the boy's breathing evened out, and Minerva carefully pulled his covers up to his chin, before she left the room, deep in thoughts.

HP

Severus slept through until dinner, and when he woke up, Minerva was sitting on the edge of his bed, smiling. "I have good news for you. You may get up and attend classes from tomorrow onwards, if you feel up to it, and we can spend the entire holidays apart from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at McGonagall Manor."

"Oh, that's great. Thank you very much. Lily didn't come to visit me though, so I couldn't ask her yet."

"She already came three times, but you were asleep. She is waiting in the common room and I promised to fetch her as soon as you woke up," Minerva replied, chuckling at his surprised expression.

HP

Lily and Severus spent the whole evening in Severus' room playing wizard's chess on Severus' bed. After a few games, Minerva joined them for a while and watched them playing, occasionally teaching one or the other a better move.

"Severus, are you tired?" Lily asked in concern, noticing that Severus seemed very absentminded after the professor had returned to the living room.

"No, I'm fine," he replied and finally blurted out, "Lily, Minerva and I are going to spend the winter holidays at McGonagall Manor, except for Christmas when we have to be here at Hogwarts. Would you perhaps like to visit us for a while?"

'_It sounds pathetic_,' he mused as soon as the words had left his mouth. '_Of course she'll want to spend the holidays with her family and not with her Head of House and me_.' He averted his eyes to his covers, following the small tone on tone pattern on the fabric with his index finger.

"Oh, I'd love to visit you, Sev. The thought of spending the whole holidays with Petunia, seeing that you're not living next door anymore, is not very attractive," Lily replied eagerly, throwing him a hopeful look. "However, won't Professor McGonagall mind having a student in her home during the holidays?"

"No, I already asked her, and she said you were very welcome. She probably sees you more as my friend than as her own student, even if you're in her House."

"Oh, then it's all right. I'm so happy, Severus. Thanks for asking me," Lily said, throwing him an enthusiastic smile.

"Do you think your parents will allow you to spend the holidays with me though?"

Lily remained pensive for a moment, before she replied firmly, "Well, if I promise to come home for Christmas Eve and stay over Christmas Day, they'll surely agree, but let me write a letter and ask my Mum."

Severus stood up and fetched parchment and quill from his desk, placing them in front of Lily, who immediately set to work. Ten minutes later, she finished her letter.

"Petunia won't like it though. I think she's very jealous of me, ever since I got my Hogwarts letter. Well, it's still thirty minutes before curfew, so I should have time enough to take this to the owlery. Severus, are you feeling well enough to accompany me?" Lily asked hesitantly, smiling when Severus gave her a comforting nod.

"I'll just have to dress," Severus replied, pointing at the pyjamas he was still wearing.

"You can just put your robes over your pyjamas. No one will notice," Lily replied, laughing at his shocked expression.

"If you're sure," Severus replied uncertainly, carefully putting on his robes, making sure they completely covered his pyjamas.

The two first-years walked out into the living room to tell Minerva where they were going and left the teacher's quarters, heading to the owlery. Lily chose a snowy white school owl and gently attached the letter to her feet, before she and Severus watched the bird take off.

"I'd like to have my own owl someday," Lily said thoughtfully as they observed the bid fly in front of the dark sky.

"My mother had an old barn owl," Severus explained with a sad expression on his face. "However, after she died, my father didn't want anything magical in our house anymore. I just could be glad he didn't touch the potions lab."

The two first-years spent a few minutes observing the other owls and enjoying the view from the window, before they finally left the large room and slowly returned in the direction of Gryffindor.

They had nearly reached the Portrait hole and Lily glanced at her wrist watch, seeing that it was five minutes before curfew.

"All right, Sev, good night. Sleep well, and I'm glad you'll be able to attend classes together with me tomorrow," Lily said softly.

"Finally," Severus sighed in exasperation as a small smile played on his lips.

Suddenly, a male voice penetrated their ears. "Oh, if it's not Evans and the slimy Slytherin, who is going to become a Death Eater in the future like all the Slytherins."

Lily and Severus turned around simultaneously, seeing two Gryffindor first-years, James Potter and Sirius Black, standing behind them. Both of them were looking bored and mischievous at the same time.

"Stay away from Evans," James said darkly, "she's a Gryffindor. Do you understand me?" He threw Severus an angry glare.

"And Severus is my best friend," Lily replied firmly. "Leave him in peace."

"How do you make your robes billow behind you, McGonagall?" Sirius queried with apparent interest.

"I'm not doing anything. Now leave Lily and me in peace," Severus replied in a dangerously quiet voice, protectively stepping in front of Lily.

"Oh well, let's see," Sirius smirked, pointing his wand at Severus' robes. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

With that, Severus' robes floated in the air, only being kept down by his arms that were still stuck inside the sleeves.

"Oh look, he's wearing pyjamas underneath!" Sirius cheered.

James laughed out loud and pointed his wand at Severus' pyjama bottoms, causing them to come down until his knees, revealing his grey underpants.

"Don't you dare! You're absolutely horrible, both of you," Lily shouted angrily. "Come Severus!" She waited until her friend was completely dressed again and pulled him further along the corridor, until they reached the door of Minerva's office.

"What happened?" Minerva asked in surprise, taking in Lily's upset and Severus' blushed faces as she let the children in.

"Sorry," Severus mumbled, heading straight to his own room.

Looking after her friend in concern, Lily quietly told the teacher what had happened in front of the Gryffindor common room a few minutes earlier. "I'm sorry for coming back here," Lily ended her explanation. "I know it's already after curfew."

"Lily, you're always welcome to come and speak with me, especially if something like this happens. Now, let me take you back to the common room and exchange a few words with Mr. Potter and Mr. Black."

"Will Severus be all right?" Lily queried, throwing a worried look in the direction of his room.

"I'll check on him in a few minutes," the professor promised calmingly and strode ahead to the Gryffindor common room.

When they entered the common room, it was very loud since many students were sitting in the room, talking and joking. However, the room quietened immediately as the students noticed their stern Head of House coming through the Portrait hole, looking ready to murder someone.

"Mr. Black and Mr. Potter, how dare you taunt students from other Houses?" Minerva asked sharply. "I am very disappointed in both of you. Come to my office tomorrow morning before breakfast to speak about your punishment. Good night, everyone else." With that, the teacher left the common room, heading back to her private quarters.

_tbc..._


	6. 6

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Minerva just entered the living room when she stopped dead in her tracks. '_Oh no! Don't let Severus get sick again_,' she thought, terrified, as she heard the sounds of someone throwing up coming from the bathroom. "Severus, are you all right?" she asked softly.

Hearing a muffled, "Yes," in reply, she patiently waited until the door opened and a pale-faced Severus walked out, swaying a little.

Minerva gently led him back to his room and helped him into bed, carefully tucking him in. "Lily told me what happened," she said casually, "and I'm going to punish Black and Potter adequately."

Severus slowly turned his eyes to face his guardian, before he sat up, panicking. "I'm going to be sick again," he gasped, before he emptied the contents of his stomach into the bucket Minerva managed to conjure right in time.

"I'm sorry," Severus moaned as Minerva gently helped him to lie down again.

"You don't have to be sorry, Severus. You probably made yourself too upset, but it's not your fault. Does your stomach hurt again?"

"A bit," Severus grudgingly admitted, "but it's not so bad." He looked blearily at his guardian as she carefully placed her hand on his forehead.

"You feel a bit warm again. Let me call Madam Pomfrey, just to make sure you don't have a setback," Minerva decided and strode through the empty guest room into the hospital wing, where Theresa was bustling around. Minerva quickly told her what happened. "Granny Theresa, how could he become sick again so quickly?"

Theresa sighed. "Minerva, Severus wasn't completely recovered yet. We merely allowed him back to class from tomorrow onwards, assuming it would upset him more if he had to stay at home longer. However, if he really has a relapse, I can't let him attend classes for a week or at least a few more days."

"Would it be better to move him to the hospital wing?" Minerva asked worriedly as she returned to Severus' room together with the Mediwitch.

"I don't think that's necessary, Minerva. I'm going to keep a close eye on him this time. I just hope Poppy won't get sick on me. She was very pale and obviously not feeling well tonight, so I sent her to bed early, but I hope she'll be right as rain tomorrow."

Motioning for Minerva to take a seat at Severus' desk, Theresa checked on Severus. "Did you let yourself get upset enough to make yourself sick again?" she asked softly, tssking lightly.

"I'm sorry," Severus whispered, fighting back the tears that welled in his eyes.

"No need to be sorry. Just try to rest and get better. I'm going to leave you here for the moment, but if I get the impression that you don't get enough rest, I'll take you with me to the hospital wing," Theresa said firmly, spelling a stomach-calming draught into his system.

"Thank you," Severus mumbled gratefully as he drifted off to sleep.

"Well, Minnie, do you realise what you got yourself into when you decided to adopt him?" Theresa queried gently as the two witches left the room.

"Adopt? I didn't adopt him," Minerva replied in confusion. "Do you think I should?"

Before Theresa could think of a reply, the alarm telling her she was needed in the hospital wing went off, and she hurried back, leaving Minerva to ponder about her words and Severus' problems.

HP

In the morning, Severus was still asleep when James and Sirius knocked at the door of Minerva's office. To Minerva's irritation, both of them looked as mischievous as ever and according to their expressions seemed not to regret their deeds of the previous evening in the least.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, I am very disappointed in your behaviour. My son did nothing to you except for being Slytherin, which is no reason to taunt a fellow student. He had just barely recovered from an illness and had a setback due to what you did to him. Both of you will serve detention in the hospital wing with the older Madam Pomfrey every evening for a week. Furthermore, you will take notes for him in all of your classes until he is able to attend classes again," she informed Sirius and James in a stern voice that allowed no contradiction. "I expect you to pass me the notes for him every day at dinnertime."

"Yes, Professor," they groaned simultaneously, before Minerva dismissed them.

'_I'll just let Severus sleep_,' Minerva mused as she quietly descended towards the Great Hall. '_Theresa will make sure that he's all right_.'

HP

In the meantime, Severus woke up, noticing his stomach was still sore, but not as bad as in the evening. The rays of the early morning sun fell through the charmed window, causing him to throw a terrified look at his alarm clock. '_Oh no! Potions is going to begin in twenty minutes_,' he realised and hurriedly scrambled out of bed. After a quick shower, he carefully dressed in black trousers with his favourite dark green turtleneck shirt and his black Slytherin robes, blushing as he remembered the events of the evening before. '_Well, I have to hurry_,' he thought, grabbing his school bag and running through the living room into the empty halls of the castle, arriving in front of the Potions classroom right in time when the last students filed in.

Severus quickly slid into the empty seat next to Lily, feeling immensely grateful she had kept a seat for him.

"Hi Sev, are you all right?" Lily queried, eyeing him in concern. "McGonagall told me you'd have to stay home for a few days."

"Did she?" Severus asked in surprise. "No, I'm fine."

"Miss Evans, Mr. McGonagall, are there any problems?" Slughorn raised his voice, throwing them an annoyed glare.

"Sorry, Professor," Lily replied quickly, turning her eyes to the recipe on the board.

'_A headache potion_,' Severus noticed, '_just what I need_.' He threw a menacing glare towards the other side of the aisle, where James and Sirius were gesturing wildly, moving invisible items up and down as they snickered at him.

During the next hour, Severus tried to concentrate on his potion, ignoring the Gryffindors' whispering and snickering. He was so engrossed in his own work that he didn't even notice the professor banish Lily's potion that had turned into an indefinable green mass.

"Well done, Mr. McGonagall, ten points to Slytherin," Slughorn commended him as he bottled his flawless potion. "Please remain for a moment."

'_Oh no! The detention_,' Severus suddenly remembered, groaning inwardly, when Lily calmingly laid her hand on his arm.

"Easy, Sev, let me speak with him."

Together, they made their way to the front of the classroom. "Professor, about the detention..." Lily began hesitantly.

"Detention?" Slughorn queried in apparent surprise.

"Well, you had assigned us detention last week, but we both fell ill that evening," Lily replied, getting slightly impatient.

"Ah that," the professor laughed. "Well, that wasn't really a detention. I had a party that night and wanted to invite both of you. It was a pity that you were ill at that time, but we'll have another party around Christmas. There is something else I wanted to ask you, Mr. McGonagall..."

Severus threw the teacher a terrified look, wondering what he had done now.

"Mr. McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey informed me that you weren't able to attend classes for the whole week. Did I understand anything wrong, or do you have an explanation as to why you are here?"

"I have no idea, sir," Severus replied honestly. "I feel fine, and I intend to attend all of my classes from today onwards."

"Very well then. Please clarify this with Madam Pomfrey and also ask her if you may return to your dormitory, if you wish to do so. Otherwise, I'd suggest you stay in your own room until she deems you completely well."

"All right, sir," Severus agreed, slightly upset, feeling that Lily comfortingly squeezed his hand.

"Sev, does Professor McGonagall know you're attending classes?" Lily queried in concern as they slowly walked to the Charms classroom, glad the professor had given them a teacher's note for Professor Flitwick excusing them for their tardiness.

"I didn't speak to her. I only woke up in time for classes and had to hurry to be on time," Severus replied in a slightly annoyed tone. "You know, Lily, so far we had about ten weeks of classes, and I missed four of them because of being sick. I do not intend to miss any more classes for the rest of the school year."

"Well, you better keep away from me then," Lily replied, rolling her eyes. "By the way, I received a letter from my mother at breakfast."

"And what did she say?" Severus asked eagerly, throwing the girl a curious glance.

Unfortunately, they had just reached the Charms classroom and couldn't talk anymore. Professor Flitwick happily greeted them, not even bothering to read Slughorn's note.

"We're just about to learn the _Scourgify_ spell, Miss Evans, Mr. McGonagall. Let me show you." The tiny professor showed them the wand movements and squeaked happily when Severus managed to vanish the buttons from his desk at the first try.

"Very well, Mr. McGonagall. Ten points to Slytherin," Flitwick cheered, causing Severus to make a mental note to thank Madam Pomfrey once again for teaching him the spell, while Sirius threw the teacher an annoyed glare.

"Shouldn't McGonagall rather get points taken for being so late?" he hissed angrily.

"All right, Mr. Black, show us how to perform the spell," Flitwick said, turning to the Gryffindors.

Sirius waved his wand at the buttons on his desk, and with a flick of his wand, half a dozen earthworms were slithering around his desk.

"Maybe you need a bit more of practice, Mr. Black," Flitwick commented and gently showed Sirius the wand movement once more.

Snickering inwardly, Severus turned to Lily and showed her the spell by gently leading her hand.

"Ah, all right. I think I got it," Lily whispered gratefully, quickly vanishing the buttons from her table.

"Well done, Miss Evans," Flitwick commended her, jumping from his pile of books in excitement.

HP

"I'm not hungry; I'll go back to my room," Severus told Lily on their way to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Severus, you need to eat something. You already missed breakfast," Lily replied firmly, throwing her friend an expecting look, but he only shook his head. "Very well then, let's go to Madam Pomfrey. She can give you a nutrient potion, and Professor Slughorn told you to speak with her about classes anyway."

Knowing his Head of House wouldn't forget about the matter and ask the Mediwitch if he had shown up, Severus grudgingly agreed and followed Lily to the hospital wing, where the older Madam Pomfrey was busily bustling around.

"Severus, thank Merlin," she exclaimed. "Where have you been?"

"In class," he replied with an innocent expression on his face.

"Did Minerva not tell you that you were exempt from classes for the whole week?" Theresa queried, throwing the boy a disbelieving look.

"No; in fact, I didn't see her at all today."

"Madam Pomfrey, you seem very busy today. What happened?" Lily efficiently changed the topic.

Theresa sighed. "Many students came down with the stomach flu, and my granddaughter caught it as well. Fortunately, Minerva assigned Mr. Potter and Mr. Black detention with me for a week because of what they did to Severus, so I'll have a little help tonight."

"Help?" Severus let out a snort. "Those two will do anything but help. Madam Pomfrey, do you need me to brew anything?"

The Mediwitch threw him a grateful look. "I urgently need the potion for the stomach flu as well as a fever reducer, but only if you feel well enough, Severus."

"I will. I'll come back right after the last afternoon class," Severus promised, smirking mischievously as an idea crossed his mind.

HP

After his last afternoon class, Severus headed back to the hospital wing, entering the small lab behind the Mediwitches' office with anticipation. '_What did she need? Stomach flu potion and fever reducer?_' he tried to remember, resolving to brew the two requested potions first. He was so engrossed in his brewing that he didn't notice two small shadows appear in the doorframe and jumped startled, nearly spilling his potion as Sirius' voice penetrated his ear.

"Ah, Snivellus is here too. Are you serving detention as well?"

"Leave Mr. McGonagall in peace," Theresa said in an angry voice from behind the students. "He is merely helping me because he knows I'm busy. By the way, fifty points to Slytherin for the potions, Mr. McGonagall."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. The flu potion is already finished." He pointed to a batch of small phials at the very far side of the table.

"Thank you very much, Mr. McGonagall. And you two," she glared at Sirius and James, "will stay out of my office for the evening. There is enough work to do in the open hospital wing." With that, Theresa shooed the two first-years out of her office, sighing. "Severus, if anyone comes looking for me, will you please tell them I'll be back in two minutes. I just have to go and give Poppy her potions."

"Of course I'll do so. Please give my regards to your granddaughter. Madam Pomfrey, when the fever reducer is finished, I'd like to brew a small joke potion," he began to explain, before he interrupted himself to count to twenty-two as he stirred anti-clockwise. "It's harmless, but it turns someone's head into that of a parrot, and I'd like to use it on those two." He pointed towards the door of Theresa's office.

Theresa chuckled, before her face became stern again. "I believe you're responsible enough to not brew anything that might be dangerous to yourself or your classmates."

"It's completely harmless, and it'll wear off in twenty-four hours. If they can't serve their detention because of the potion, I'll help you," Severus promised.

"Very well then, go ahead. I'll be back shortly," Theresa replied, unable to deny Severus, whom she secretly admired for his potions abilities and his gentleman like behaviour, to have some fun.

And fun he had. In fact, the whole school had fun at breakfast in the Great Hall when Sirius' and James' heads suddenly turned into that of parrots.

"Sev, was that your doing?" Lily queried between giggles as they climbed the stairs towards the Transfiguration classroom.

"Well, I won't deny, but let me tell you, I didn't do anything without the older Madam Pomfrey's permission," Severus smirked.

"She knew what you were brewing, and she agreed?" Lily gasped. "I just hope Professor McGonagall will share her opinion."

'_So do I. It's more likely she's going to kill me_,' Severus mused as Minerva called out to him in a strict voice, "Mr. McGonagall, please remain for a moment."

"It's all right, Lily. Go ahead. I'll be there shortly," Severus whispered, before he slowly walked up to the teacher's desk.

"Severus, as much as I can understand you needed some revenge, I don't appreciate such a prank," Minerva told him sternly, before she continued in a slightly softer voice. "On the other hand, I'm impressed that you managed to brew a flawless Transfiguration potion, and I'm glad you asked for Madam Pomfrey's approval before brewing. Well done, Severus."

"You knew? About the potion I mean," Severus queried, looking at his guardian in surprise.

"Yes. I spent the evening looking after Poppy, and when Theresa came to check on her, she told us about it," Minerva replied, chuckling. "In fact, Severus, I merely called you to ask if you're feeling all right. As you know, you were supposed to stay at home for a few more days. I'm sorry I wasn't there in the morning, but the Headmaster called me at six o'clock for an early meeting."

"That's all right. I saw your note, so I knew where you went, and I'm fine," Severus replied, slightly annoyed by the fussing. "If that's all..."

"Yes, of course. You have to head to your next class. Take care, Severus. I'm proud of you."

_tbc..._


	7. 7

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Suspecting Severus to have brewed the potion for them even if they were unable to find any prove, Sirius and James tried to taunt the Slytherin first-year at every opportunity. However, Lily was always at his side, pulling him away from her House mates as soon as they came into sight. On the last day of classes before the winter holidays, however, they managed to get their revenge on Severus.

At the beginning of the week, Professor Slughorn explained, "We'll use this last week before the holidays to brew easy Healing Potions. They all have something in common. Mr. McGonagall, what do the headache potion, the fever reducing potion, and the basic healing potion have in common?"

"They all need moon fern, powdered birch bark, and oak leaves," Severus replied calmly.

"Very well, Mr. McGonagall, five points to Slytherin," the professor commended him, looking at him in appreciation. "You must be careful to powder the birch bark; if you only cut into slices, it'll have the opposite effect and can become very dangerous."

HP

On Friday morning, Lily and Severus sat in the second row in the Potions classroom, waiting for Professor Slughorn to make the recipe appear on the board.

"Today, we'll brew the general healing potion, which is the base to many healing potions. Be careful to properly powder your birch bark," the teacher instructed them.

'_Strange that Potter and Black are sitting in the first row; I wonder if Slughorn instructed them to sit in the front, because they never manage to brew a flawless potion_,' Severus mused as he carefully inserted his ingredients, watching Lily's doing from the corner of his eyes.

"No, Lily, stir anti-clockwise," he hissed, noticing that his friend was on the verge of making a grave mistake.

Unfortunately, he didn't realise James used the opportunity to turn around and throw a handful of items into Severus' cauldron. He safely finished his potion, nodding contentedly as the liquid took on the correct colour after the last step. He bottled a phial and placed it on the teacher's desk, throwing Lily an appreciative smile as he saw that her potion seemed correct, too.

However, on his way back to his seat, Sirius stepped into his way. "Out of my way, Snivellus," he hissed, shoving Severus against his cauldron that tilted, causing the remaining liquid to leak all over Severus' hands and arms as he tried to keep the cauldron from falling off the table.

"Mr. Black, what do you think you're doing?" Slughorn asked angrily. "Ten points from Gryffindor. You can be glad it was only a harmless healing potion."

However, Severus noticed soon that something must have been off with the potion. During the second morning class, he felt his body explode in pain and heat. '_I wonder if Black and Potter did something to my potion, while I looked away_,' he mused, trying to keep his teeth from chattering as a violent shiver shook his body.

"Severus, are you feeling all right?" Lily whispered in concern.

"No, but keep quiet. I don't want anyone to know," Severus whispered back, glad his guardian was just scolding Black for passing a message to Lupin at the other end of the classroom.

Apparently realising he wouldn't make it to the end of the class, Lily called Minerva over and said in a small voice, "Professor, I don't feel good. May Severus accompany me to the hospital wing, please?"

Minerva threw both of them a sharp look, letting out a small gasp as she took in Severus' face that was completely white with dark red spots on his cheeks. Beads of sweat were dripping from his temples. "Please go to straight to Madam Pomfrey," she said worriedly, pointing to the connecting door to her office.

Lily gently supported Severus' arm as they went, making it appear to their classmates as if Severus was steadying her. "Madam Pomfrey, quickly please," she shouted as she helped Severus into an empty bed in the hospital wing.

"The potion," Severus rasped, "Black or Potter must have put something in it."

Within seconds, Poppy was at his side. "What happened?" she asked in concern as she waved her wand at him.

Lily quickly explained about the potion and Severus' suspicion.

"I share his suspicion," Poppy confirmed. "Someone must have put sliced birch bark or sliced frog liver into a normal healing potion to turn it as harmful as it was. It won't cause any permanent harm though, because we have the counter potion at hand. Severus, you'll need a few doses of the normal healing potion as well as some pain relievers and fever reducers, but by tomorrow you'll be well enough to go home." With that, she bustled away to fetch several phials, spelling the potions straight into his system.

Lily sat on the edge of Severus' bed, seeing that he visibly relaxed as he felt the potions take effect. "I'm sorry this happened, Sev; I didn't notice anything," she said softly as she took the cold cloth Poppy handed her and gently began to bathe his flushed face.

"Thank you, Lily," Severus replied, reaching for her cool hand. "Feels good," he mumbled as he closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

"What happened?" Minerva asked in concern as she hurried to Lily's side, "and why were you covering up for Severus, Lily?"

Lily sighed and told her Head of House what had happened in the Potions class, finishing, "and because I thought they had done something to him, I didn't want them to know they succeeded. I knew you only had to look at us to see which of us was the one having problems."

"I see. I'm sure Severus appreciates it very much. Unfortunately, we don't have any proof that Black or Potter tampered with his potion, so I can't punish them," Minerva replied thoughtfully, gently removing an errand strand of hair from Severus' cheek.

"Minerva, Lily," Theresa's gentle voice penetrated their ears as the older Mediwitch came around Severus' bed. "Severus is asleep, and the hospital is full of patients, who are recovering from the wizard's flu. I'd prefer you both leave before you catch the flu. We will keep Severus asleep as long as he is in such a bad condition, and as soon as he feels better, we'll move him into his own room, so you can spend time with him."

"All right, Theresa, we'll be out of your way then. Does he have to remain here for the moment?"

"Yes; he is very ill. The potion was very harmful, and we need to constantly monitor him, until the effects on his inner organs are reversed and his fever breaks, which should be after his third dose of the healing potion."

"Well, Lily, let's go and have some lunch," Minerva said softly, ushering the first-year out of the hospital wing.

HP

When Severus woke up, he found himself in his own bed. Lily was sitting on the edge of his bed reading a book.

"Lily," Severus said, reaching for her hand.

"Severus!" Lily's expression turned into a soft smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful. Did they really poison me, or was that a dream?"

Lily sadly shook her head. "Unfortunately, that wasn't a dream. They did, but unfortunately we can't prove that it was them, so Minerva can't even punish them."

"Oh well, I'll get my revenge sometime," Severus replied, smirking. "Are we going to McGonagall Manor today?"

"Yes, McGonagall just went to see everyone off at the station in Hogsmeade, and as soon as one of the Madam Pomfreys lets you go, we can leave I think." She worriedly felt his forehead. "Thank God, you're not so hot anymore. Let me call Madam Pomfrey."

"I'm fine, and since I'm back here, I should be able to get up anyway," Severus replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Yes, I know," Lily grinned as she left the room only to return with Theresa a few minutes later.

"If you promise to rest for the rest of the day, you may leave," Theresa said after thoroughly checking on him. "Minerva, he still needs to take these two potions tonight," she turned to the professor, who had just entered the room.

"Thank you, Theresa. Well then, let's go home. Severus, we'll wait for you in the living room," Minerva said in obvious relief.

"Um, I'm sorry, but could the two of you go ahead please?" Severus asked hesitantly. "There is something I need to do before I can leave."

"No," Theresa said, before Minerva could even think of a reply. "I merely released you knowing you were going home with your guardian and your friend, not to have you running around the castle aggravating your condition."

"I am not planning to run around the castle or aggravate my condition. I'm sorry; may I please have a word in private with Madam Pomfrey?" Severus threw Minerva and Lily an apologizing look, causing the two witches to retire from the room, looking at each other in confusion.

"Now, what's wrong, Severus?" Theresa queried, taking a seat on the side of his bed.

"I need Christmas presents for Minerva and Lily, and I thought maybe I could brew fruit drops for Lily and ginger drops for Minerva. Would it be possible to use your lab for two hours?"

Theresa remained thoughtful for a moment, before she replied, "If you feel well enough to brew, you may do so. However, I'm sure Minerva and Lily will prefer to wait the two hours and travel together. On the other hand, you can always take the Floo back here, if you need to brew something. Poppy and I will be here during the whole holidays."

"Thank you so much, Madam Pomfrey," Severus said gratefully. "I'd prefer to make the drops before we leave though. Who knows what they have planned for tomorrow or the day after?" He smirked, causing Theresa to laugh.

"I'm sure you'll have fun. All right, just tell them you want to brew a Christmas present for them or you need to brew something you promised Poppy earlier."

HP

Like Theresa had predicted, Minerva and Lily decided to spend the time in Minerva's quarters, waiting for Severus.

"It's no problem, Severus; I have lots of tests to grade," Minerva replied softly.

"And I'll get a head start on our homework," Lily smiled.

"Oh good, I'll borrow your work then," Severus gave back, smirking, before he strode into the hospital wing to brew his potions. Unbeknownst to Theresa, he brewed the double amount of each of the potions with the intention to give an assortment of the drops to Poppy and Theresa for Christmas.

HP

After a quick lunch, Minerva explained to Lily how to use the Floo network, deciding she would go ahead, and Severus should make sure Lily properly managed to Floo to McGonagall Manor, before he was supposed to follow her.

"Don't worry, Lily, it's really easy. I used it for the first time when we travelled to Prince Manor two months ago, and it wasn't a problem," Severus said soothingly, sensing Lily was very excited about the matter."

"You can step into the fireplace together if you wish," Minerva suggested, giving Lily a questioning look.

"Oh, yes please, if you don't mind, Sev. If we get lost together, we'll surely find a way to get back."

"Very well," Severus agreed, and the two first-years followed Minerva into the fireplace as soon as she had left. "McGonagall Manor," Severus shouted and threw the Floo powder in, gently holding Lily in his arm.

Together, they stepped out of the fireplace, and Severus was just about to look around the dimly lit room, in which they had arrived, when Lily let out a huge gasp, anxiously pressing herself back into his arm.

"Lily, what's wrong?" Severus queried in surprise, curiously glancing around.

They seemed to be in Minerva's office. The room had about the size of her office at Hogwarts. It held a huge desk, a comfortable chair, and the walls were covered with paintings and a few bookshelves. The light falling in through a large window opposite of the fireplace was dimmed, and only when Minerva tapped her wand against the window, it revealed the view on a huge park around a small lake, and the room became much brighter.

"What are these creatures?" Lily whispered, frightened, staring at two house-elves, who were standing in front of them, bowing deeply.

"These are Margaret and Malcolm, my house-elves," Minerva gently introduced the two elves, who reacted by bowing deep enough for their large ears to touch the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry; it's just I've never seen elves before," Lily replied as her expression turned into one of amazement.

Minerva introduced the children to the elves, before she threw Severus a sharp look. "Shall I give you a tour around the Manor now or later?"

"Right now would be fine with me," Severus replied, causing Lily to nod eagerly.

"Very well then, come on," Minerva said, motioned them to follow her out into the parlour.

'_Oh, I love this room_,' Severus mused, '_although it's a bit too light for my liking_.'

It was a large room, held in white and beige tones, while the furniture was of a scarlet colour. One of the larger walls was just made of glass like an enormous window, revealing the look on the park, while the other wall was covered with portraits as well as a huge painting of Hogwarts.

"The funny thing with this painting," Minerva explained, "is that it shows you every possible room within the castle." She tapped the castle with her wand, muttering, "Headmaster's Office," causing the painting to display Professor Dumbledore's round office.

"Oh, how cute! Professor Dumbledore is talking to his phoenix," Lily exclaimed as they observed the Headmaster pet the phoenix's head feathers, causing Minerva to laugh.

"Yes, he often speaks with Fawkes." Throwing both students a stern look, she lectured them, "Now, only the Headmaster, Poppy and Theresa Pomfrey and I know about this painting, and I'd like to leave it at that. Moreover, it should be without question that we never ask the painting to show any of the teachers' private quarters."

"Of course," Lily and Severus replied simultaneously.

_tbc..._


	8. 8

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"Very well. Over there is the entrance hall and there, next to it, the dining room." Minerva pointed to the right, before she led the students to the left side of the parlour, until they reached a huge staircase. "Downstairs, you'll find the kitchen and a small potions lab," Severus' face took on an expression of pure delight, "and over here is the library."

The library was enormous. "Wow, it's nearly as big as the one in Hogwarts," Lily said, looking around in amazement."

"It's about as large as the one at Prince Manor," Severus added, "and that is huge."

"Well, this one is probably even a little larger than the one at Prince Manor," Minerva replied, smiling; "however, if you put both libraries together, you'll own the largest library in the magical world." She pointed to the desk at one side of the room. "If you search for a book, you tap your wand against the screen, which is attached to the table, and say the keyword, phrase, book title, author, or spell you're looking for, and the book title along with the book's exact position will appear on the screen. If you exactly know which book you want, just tap your wand on its title, and it will come to you. Otherwise, each shelf has a letter and a number on it, under which you'll find what you're looking for. If you want to put a book back, just place it onto the screen, and it will return to its original position."

"May I try?" Severus queried, excitedly pulling his wand.

"Of course," Minerva replied, smiling, "however, since we all heard Madam Pomfrey's order that you should rest for the remainder of the day, I suggest we try it out tomorrow. Feel free to come here at anytime, and if you encounter any problems, please call me or the elves."

"Thank you, Professor," Lily replied, glancing around in delight.

"Minerva, would you perhaps be willing to teach us something while we're here?" Severus asked hesitantly as they left the library and turned towards the stairs.

"Of course I am willing to teach you," Minerva replied in surprise. "Did you think of something special?"

"Yes, I'd like to learn how to become an Animagus," Severus replied hesitantly, hurrying to explain, "I know it's very difficult and might take a few years, but I'd love to learn it."

"Oh, I'd love to learn that as well," Lily agreed eagerly, throwing the professor a pleading look.

"Very well," Minerva replied thoughtfully, "however, it will take much time and effort to learn how to transform into an animal, and most witches and wizards are not able to transform at all. You might practise for years only to discover that all your effort was in vain. If you consider these points and still want to learn, I'll be pleased to teach you. However, I'd like you to keep this private, because I can't teach all the first-years the Animagus Transformation."

"Of course we'll keep this private, and yes, I'd love to study the transformation," Severus replied firmly.

"I'm sure that I want to try as well," Lily added, causing Severus to throw an enthusiastic look into her emerald eyes that were twinkling with joy.

"Can we begin tomorrow morning?" Severus queried, causing Minerva to chuckle.

"We'll see how you feel tomorrow morning. I also intended to make a trip to Diagon Alley to buy Christmas presents," Minerva replied thoughtfully.

"Oh yes, please. I need to buy Christmas presents for my parents and my sister. I nearly forgot," Lily threw in.

"We'll do that then, provided Severus is feeling well enough. Concerning the Animagus Transformation, first of all, you need to think about what animal you want to try to become," Minerva explained as she led the students into the room right next to her own. "Then you will spend a few hours in the library to find as much information about your animal as you can. Only if you know your animal in every detail, we'll begin to try to change your left hand into the left paw, wing, or whatever part your animal has instead of a hand."

Tapping her wand against the window, causing the room to become much brighter, Minerva said, "This is your room, Severus, and I suggest that you lie down and rest for at least two hours. My room is right next to yours, and Lily's room is opposite of your room. You can call one of the elves if you can't find us later on. I'll wake you up in time for dinner, if we don't see you earlier."

'_That's a good idea. I'm absolutely groggy_,' Severus mused, for once feeling more grateful than annoyed at his guardian's thoughtfulness. "All right," he agreed.

"Sleep well, Sev," Lily said gently as she crossed the room after Minerva. "You'll probably find me in the library if I may use it."

"Of course you may," Minerva reassured her gently.

"Well, I'll find you there," Severus promised as he sat on his bed, curiously looking around. The furniture in the room was kept in different shades of blue, while the walls were white, and one wall consisted of a huge window going out onto the park. '_It even has a balcony_,' Severus thought in complete amazement. '_This room is absolutely gorgeous; it's nearly better than my room at school, which I like a lot. I wonder where that door leads, perhaps to a bathroom_.'

While Severus tiredly lay down and fell asleep in the blink of an eye, Minerva showed Lily to her room, which was the equivalent to Severus' room, before the two ladies headed downstairs again.

"I already know which animal I'd like to transform into," Lily excitedly told the professor.

"That's a fast decision, Lily. May I ask which animal you chose?"

"I'd love to become a cat like your Animagus form. I love cats. I always wanted to have a cat, but my parents never allowed me one," Lily replied softly. "Therefore, I'd like to do some research about cats. Do you think I'll find something in the library, Minerva?"

"Oh well, yes, as you can imagine, I gathered one or two books about cats," Minerva replied, smiling at the eager girl. "Let's see if you manage to find the books." With that she opened the door to the library and led Lily to the desk with the search screen.

"May I use my wand?" Lily queried uncertainly. "During the holidays..."

"You're not allowed to do magic during the holidays. That's correct; however, as long as you're here within the wards surrounding the Manor, the Ministry is not able to recognize any underage magic. Therefore, you may do magic as if you were at Hogwarts."

Lily let out a relieved sigh, pulling her wand. "Cat Animagus," she said, gently tapping her wand against the screen.

Around ten book titles appeared on the screen, causing Minerva to smile and point at one of the titles. "I'd recommend this one first," she said gently. "It's old, but it's very good, and it helped me immensely when I first tried to become an Animagus."

As Lily tapped her wand at the title, an old tome hovered through the air onto the table. Lily glanced at the title in excitement. '_You Want to Become a Cat Animagus_?' it said in gold-plated Celtic letters.

"I suggest you take exact notes about the descriptive parts, so you can describe your form to Severus and me as detailed as possible later on. I'm going to leave you to your studies. You'll find me in my office," the teacher said, turning to the door.

"All right; thank you, Minerva," Lily replied happily, already losing herself in the book.

HP

Lily was so engrossed in her studies that she didn't realise how fast time passed and was surprised when Minerva re-entered the library, looking for Severus in concern.

"You told him to sleep for two hours, didn't you?" she queried, throwing her Head of House a confused look.

"Yes, but that was five hours ago, and it's already past dinner time. I'm sorry, I seem to have lost track of time myself. I'll go and wake him up. I hope he's all right. It's very unusual for Severus to sleep so much."

HP

Severus woke up to his guardian's voice. "Severus, are you feeling all right?"

He lazily cracked his eyes open, noticing that he felt extremely tired. "Oh, I'm sorry; did I sleep too long?" he asked wearily, having no idea of how late it might be.

"Of course not," Minerva replied, throwing him a concerned look. "You may sleep as long as you wish, especially if you're not feeling one hundred percent well."

"I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired," Severus replied as he scrambled out of his bed. "I'm sorry. I'll be downstairs in five minutes."

"Very well," Minerva replied, leaving the room to give the boy some privacy.

At dinner, Lily informed them what she had found out about cats and the Animagus transformation, causing Severus to inwardly groan. '_How could I sleep away the whole afternoon?_' he mused, resolving to think of something to get his revenge on the two Gryffindor boys, who had poisoned him the day before.

Seeing that he hardly ate anything, Minerva handed him the potion he was supposed to take in the evening. "I suggest you take this and go back to bed. If you feel well enough in the morning, we'll make a trip to Diagon Alley."

HP

Severus woke up feeling slightly dazed. His limbs ached somehow, and his throat felt a bit scratchy. '_Is my throat sore, or is it my imagination? I hope I won't get ill now. Well, whatever it is, I just have to get through this day_,' he mused, bringing his thumbs to his temples to massage his forehead against the beginning headache. '_They wanted to go to Diagaon Alley, and I can't tell them I'm not feeling well enough. Lily will be very excited about it_.' He scrambled out of bed and decided to try clearing his head by taking a hot shower, noticing soon that it didn't help too much. He slowly dragged himself down the stairs to the parlour.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Minerva greeted him friendly, causing Severus to blush.

"I'm sorry for sleeping so long," he replied, immediately becoming aware that it hurt to speak. He hesitantly accepted a piece of toast, applying a bit of butter and a spoonful of marmalade to it.

"Would you like some tea?" he heard Minerva's voice, only then noticing that she was waiting for him to hand her his mug so she could pour him his favourite tea. He gratefully accepted the heated pottery back, laying both hands around it to crave the warmth.

"Severus, I'm so excited. I've only been to Diagon Alley in August when Minerva came and helped me buy all the things I needed for Hogwarts. Have you been to Diagon Alley often before?"

Severus frowned as he tried to remember his early childhood. "I went there a few times with my mother," he replied thoughtfully, "but I don't really remember much of it. After she died, I didn't go to Diagon Alley until I received my Hogwarts letter a few months ago. Fortunately, everything was explained in the letter, so I could go and get my school books and everything on my own. After that, I only went to Diagon Alley once with Minerva this autumn."

"Probably nobody bothered to accompany you, because the Hogwarts book listed you as '_magical born_'," Minerva explained regrettably. "I'm sorry for that."

"It's not your fault, and I was fine," Severus replied softly, noticing that his voice was becoming slightly raspy and sore. He greedily drank a bit of his tea, resolving to listen to Minerva and Lily talk about their trip to Diagon Alley.

"I need to buy some sweets for the Headmaster. He always appreciates sweets, mainly his favourite lemon drops. However, I believe I could buy some warm socks for him this year; he complained about cold feet in our last staff meeting," Minerva mused aloud, causing the two first-years to laugh.

"How can an old man of more than one hundred years eat so many sweets anyway?" Severus queried, his face scrunched in disgust.

"Well, I could eat as many," Lily chuckled, causing Minerva to shake her head in exasperation.

"You better not imitate the Headmaster, trying to eat that many sweets. Severus, are you feeling well enough to spend the day shopping?" she queried in concern, noticing that he looked worse for wear.

"Of course," Severus hurried to reply. "I'm still a bit tired from the poisoning incident, but other than that I'm fine."

"Very well, then I suggest you eat your toast; otherwise, I have to assume you're not well enough to come with us," Minerva replied sternly, causing Severus to groan in exasperation.

"If I say I'm fine, then I _am_ fine; no need to make such a fuss," he mumbled to himself with an expression of annoyance on his face.

"Pardon me, Mister?" Minerva queried, her mouth stretching to a thin line. "Do not speak in that tone to me. Go to your room for a while to reflect on your behaviour. I'll send Margaret or Malcolm when we're ready to leave."

Severus angrily stepped up the stairs and into his room, only barely able to resist slamming the door behind him. He let himself fall onto his bed, sighing in relief as his achy head came to lie on the pillow.

'_At least I didn't have to eat my toast_,' he mused, '_but I should apologize to Minerva. She only meant well, although it annoyed me, because I don't want to admit I feel sick so as not to spoil the day for them_.' With that thought in mind he rolled onto his side, facing the wall in order to keep the light away from his eyes that had become very sore in the meantime.

'_I hope she won't send me away, because I was so disrespectful_,' he suddenly thought, and as farfetched as the idea seemed, he couldn't prevent it from settling down in his mind, making him panic at the prospect of having to return to his father.

'_Especially if she realises that I'm sick again_,' he groaned inwardly, noticing that not only his throat and head but also his neck hurt so much that he could hardly move his head anymore. He spent the next thirty minutes inefficiently trying to find a cool spot on his pillow, until he heard Malcolm's calm voice calling him.

"Master Severus needs to get up. Yous is leaving for Diagon Alley soon."

"All right, Malcolm, thank you," Severus whispered, slowly scrambling out of his bed. '_Maybe I should just tell them I don't feel well, so they can go to Diagon Alley alone and I can stay here and rest_,' he mused; however, he dismissed the thought as soon as he remembered that Minerva was still angry at him. '_They will only make a fuss and won't go without me anyway. I better hide my problem from them. These huge Manors probably all have their own potions lab, and maybe I can ask Minerva if I may brew a potion tonight_. _But I'll apologize right away_,' he decided as he put the healthiest expression he could muster on his face and dragged himself downstairs.

"Minerva, I'm sorry for my earlier behaviour. It was uncalled for," he said in a small voice as soon as he entered his guardian's office, where Minerva and Lily were patiently waiting in front of a book shelf.

"Very well, Severus. Please note that I won't tolerate this kind of behaviour in the future," Minerva replied in a stern but gentle voice and, after another concerned look at his extremely pale face, went ahead to take the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron.

_tbc..._


	9. 9

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Seeing that Lily seemed to be as unsure about taking the Floo as the day before, Severus once more stepped into the fireplace together with her and shouted their destiny, noticing horrified that they arrived at a very foggy place.

'_Where are we_?' Severus mused and was relieved to hear Minerva's voice right next to him.

"Are you all right, Lily and Severus?"

"Yes of course," Lily replied, dragging Severus with her through their misty surroundings.

Only when they left the building, Severus' foggy mind cleared up, making him realise that they had indeed arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. '_That was strange_,' he mused, but since none of the others lost a word about the matter, he dismissed the thought. Bringing his hands to his forehead to massage his temples, he tried to concentrate on the task ahead as he unobtrusively leaned against the wall to steady himself.

Lily looked around in amazement as Minerva opened the way through the stone wall to Diagon Alley, even if she had witnessed it earlier in the summer.

"Where do you want to go first?" Minerva queried, looking questioningly at the two first-years.

"We could go to the sweets shop first, so you can buy the drops for Professor Dumbledore," Lily suggested. "Maybe I'll find something for my sister Petunia. Frankly speaking, I have no idea what I could get her."

"Minerva, do you think it would be possible to use the potions lab at McGonagall Manor?" Severus asked hesitantly. "In that case, I could brew lemon drops for you and for Lily's sister."

"That's a very generous offer, Severus, and if you're sure you can brew them without harming yourself, you may of course use the potions lab. Since I am your guardian, McGonagall Manor is your home as well, and you're free to use it," Minerva replied firmly, causing Severus to smirk.

'_That way I can brew a pain relieving potion and a Pepperup potion for myself as well_,' Severus mused, turning the necessary ingredients in his head as he waited for Lily and Minerva to gather several kinds of sweets.

After the sweets shop, they headed for the bookshop, where Minerva intended to buy a few presents for Severus as well as a book for Lily. It took them nearly two hours, before they were finished at Flourish and Blotts.

"Oh, I just love this bookshop," Lily sighed contentedly, pocketing a pile of shrunken books in her robe pocket.

"I like the bookshop too," Severus agreed, torn between his interest to look at the books for another while and the relief to be out in the fresh air again, where he found it easier to breathe than in the slightly dusty bookshop.

"It's my favourite as well. Now, where are we heading now? Is there anything else you'd like to see?" Minerva queried.

"I'd like to make a short trip to the apothecary to get some potions ingredients," Severus replied very hesitantly, feeling slightly bad because so far Minerva had been paying everything for him. '_I wonder what's wrong with me today_,' he mused. '_I feel horrible. Is that still because of the poison? Madam Pomfrey seemed to be quite sure I should be all right by last night. Or did I catch anything else while being in the hospital wing?_'

He had to try hard to concentrate enough to know what he needed at the apothecary and was glad when Minerva suggested taking a break at the Leaky Cauldron to eat some lunch. Although he wasn't hungry in the least, he was extremely relieved to be able to rest for a while.

"Severus, what are you going to eat?" Minerva pulled Severus out of his thoughts.

"I'd just like to have some tea," Severus replied, causing the two witches to throw him worried looks.

"Severus, are you feeling all right?" Minerva asked, slightly upset, her voice laced with concern. "You didn't eat anything for breakfast either. Why don't you at least have some soup or a sandwich?"

"All right, I'll have some soup," Severus decided in determination to avoid another fight with his guardian. He silently ate his soup, while the two witches were excitedly discussing what they still needed to buy for whom.

'_Thank Merlin I brewed their presents yesterday morning when I felt much more coherent and better than I'm feeling now_,' Severus thought, feeling as if his throat was on fire. During the afternoon, he quietly followed Minerva and Lily through some more shops, unaware of the fact that they were observing him in concern.

As soon as Lily let out a relieved sigh because she had managed to buy all of her Christmas presents, Minerva decided to take the Floo home. Back at McGonagall Manor, she ordered Severus to go up to his room and rest for a while.

"I'll come and check on you shortly," she told him, before she suggested to Lily to show her how to magically wrap presents while Severus took his nap.

"That would be wonderful," Lily agreed, worriedly observing as Severus dragged himself up the stairs.

Severus slowly walked back to his room, took his robes off and scrambled into bed, curling up under his covers. '_Oh no, just leave me in peace_,' he groaned inwardly as he heard the door to his room open a few minutes later.

However, an instant later, he felt an ice-cold hand on his forehead and blearily turned his eyes upwards, seeing Minerva leaning over him. He was lying half on his stomach, half on his side, clutching his pillow with both arms. Minerva produced a thermometer out of the air and gently instructed him, "Open your mouth and keep it under your tongue."

"I'm fine," he protested hoarsely as a violent shiver made its way through his body.

"I believe that immediately," she replied in her no-nonsense voice. "Open up and let me take your temperature, just to be sure you're fine."

Feeling too bad to protest, he simply opened his mouth and closed it around the thermometer, unconsciously leaning into the cold touch as Minerva once again brought her hand to his face to gently remove a few errand strands of hair from his cheeks. He remained unmoving as more shivers shook his body, until the thermometer finally beeped and his guardian took it back with a frown.

"You have a high fever, Severus. How exactly are you feeling? Do you think it's still the after-effect of the poisoning, or do you have the impression you caught something else?"

"I think it's just a cold," Severus replied hoarsely. "My throat is a bit sore."

"Considering your fever, it's surely more than a cold," Minerva replied thoughtfully. "Hang in there for a moment; I'm going to call Madam Pomfrey."

HP

Severus hadn't even properly registered that Minerva had left the room when she already returned with the younger Mediwitch and Lily in tow.

"Hello Severus," Poppy greeted him gently as she began to wave her wand over him, casting several diagnostic spells in absolute concentration.

"The Squid's flu," she diagnosed after a few minutes of wand waving, causing everyone to gape at her.

"The what?" Severus croaked in disbelief.

Poppy let out a long sigh. "The Giant Squid is ill with the flu."

"Oh right, Hagrid told us he was nursing him back to health in the last staff meeting," Minerva interrupted her, remembering the staff meeting from a few days ago.

"But how could I catch something from the Giant Squid?" Severus huffed, coughing.

"Well, there is an easy explanation for that," Poppy replied. "Black, Potter and Pettigrew saw fit to take a bath in the lake a few days ago, and Black got a cramp. The Giant Squid apparently saved him, lifting him up to the surface. Unfortunately, it caused him to catch the Squid's flu from him. It's only contagious by touch. Mr. Black came down with it the night Severus was in the hospital wing, and Mr. Potter followed him on Saturday morning. One of them must have somehow touched Severus."

"That's impossible," Severus said flatly.

"It's not, Sev; remember, Black shoved you against your cauldron during Potions class that morning," Lily threw in, her eyes widening in horror.

"Yes, that must have been when you caught it," Madam Pomfrey agreed. "Don't worry; it's not so different from the normal wizard's flu. In a week you'll be right as rain again. Now, I have to go back to Hogwarts to fetch a few potions." With that Poppy hurriedly left the room.

"In a week?" Severus croaked, horrified.

"That's too bad. What are we going to do for Christmas?" Lily queried anxiously, turning to Minerva.

Minerva let out a long sigh. "Well, considering Severus took you into his arms this afternoon to take the Floo together and considering how weak your body's defences are, it might be that you'll come down with it as well. I'm sorry Lily," she replied softly, gently patting the girl's hand.

This instant, the older Madam Pomfrey entered the room. "Hello together. I just had to see you myself, Severus," the older Mediwitch greeted them, waving her wand over Severus. "Yes, you caught indeed the Squid's flu. I'm sorry, Severus. You're on absolute bed rest for a week."

Setting several phials on the night table, she explained to Minerva, "You should be safe from the illness due to the preventive potion everyone drank in the staff meeting a few days ago. However, I'm afraid Miss Evans will come down with it as well. In that case, I suggest you let both children stay in this room together, so you can look after both of them more easily. The Squid's flu goes along with a very high fever, a bad throat infection and yellow spots, which begin at the hands and feet and extend over the arms and legs. The worse the illness becomes, the farther the spots spread."

Theresa turned back to Severus and made him drink two potions. "Severus, when did you begin to feel the first symptoms?" she asked softly as she slid a wrist band over his left hand, making sure it began to display his temperature after a few seconds.

"When I woke up this morning," Severus replied truthfully, causing the old Mediwitch to frown.

"You should have told your guardian immediately. The earlier we notice the illness and begin to treat it, the more harmless its course is. No wonder you're already spiking such a high fever."

"I'm sorry; I didn't want to spoil their day," Severus mumbled, noticing that his voice was beginning to fail.

"Now, try to sleep, Severus. You'll need much rest to get better," Theresa said, carefully adjusting a cold cloth to his forehead. "Either Poppy or I will stay with you during the night."

"Can you stay with me, please?" Severus whispered pleadingly, reaching for the old Mediwitch's cool hand.

"All right," Theresa agreed, lightly squeezing his hand, before she gently slid it under his covers and carefully tucked him in. Observing that Severus drifted off to sleep, she turned to Lily and waved her wand, confirming that the girl didn't show any signs of the illness so far.

"Very well. What do they need? What can I do to help them recover as fast as possible?" Minerva queried, throwing the Mediwitch a helpless look.

"As soon as the yellow spots begin to appear, they'll feel too itchy to bear wearing a wrist band anymore, and you'll need to record their temperature and any other details like the appearance of the first spots and how far they reach on a card every four hours." Theresa produced two cards out of her robe pocket, placing them on the night table. "You also have to give them the Squid's flu potion as well as a fever reducer at the same time, and as soon as the spots appear, you need to apply the cream every now and then. Please also record if they managed to eat anything and how much they ate. Swallowing will be very painful, and we might have to give them nutrient potions or hook them onto IVs. Either Poppy or I will come by once during the day to check on them."

"Very well," Minerva replied. "Could you please tell Albus about this and make him understand that I won't be able to return to Hogwarts for Christmas?"

"He won't like it. He already seemed very lost without his Deputy during the last two days," Theresa replied, shaking her head in exasperation. "However, even if he doesn't like it, Albus will have to accept that you're stuck here with a sick child. Severus is already too ill to move him to Hogwarts at this stage. If Miss Evans comes down with the illness as well, she won't be able to return to her family either," Theresa said softly.

"If she comes down with it, I'll inform her parents accordingly," Minerva said, throwing Lily a reassuring glance. "How long is the incubation time?"

"Between twenty-four and forty-eight hours," Theresa replied, gently bathing Severus' flushed face with a cool cloth, noticing that he calmed down in his sleep immediately. "Well, as I promised Severus, I'll take the night shift so you can get some sleep." With that, the older Mediwitch adjusted the cloth to Severus' forehead, pointed her wand at his head, nodding contentedly, and excused herself to return to Hogwarts.

Minerva and Lily remained in Severus' room for the rest of the evening, and Minerva showed Lily how to magically wrap her Christmas presents, glad that Severus calmly slept through the evening.

HP

When Lily woke up in the morning, she knew immediately that she had caught the Squid's flu from Severus. Her first thought was to turn around and try to sleep some more; however, realising how much it hurt to swallow or even breathe, she scrambled out of bed, holding on to the night table until a bout of dizziness passed, and dragged herself over the corridor, hesitantly entering Severus' room through the half-open door.

Seeing that it was still dark outside, Lily had expected Madam Pomfrey to be still there; however, Minerva was sitting on the edge of Severus' bed, trying to calm down a very upset boy.

"Let me go. I must help her. I saw Black and Potter throw Lily into the lake," Severus croaked, trying to get away from Minerva's firm grip in vain.

"Severus, you're delirious. Lily is in her room sleeping. Now calm down please," Minerva told him firmly, unobtrusively waving her wand at the boy to place a spell on him that would keep him in bed.

Lily let herself sink on the side of his bed next to Minerva, wearily reaching for Severus' hand. "I'm here, Severus," she said softly, shocked at how hoarse her voice sounded. A shiver spread through her body as she felt Minerva's ice-cold hand on her forehead.

"I'm afraid you'll have to stay here, Lily," Minerva said gently and stood up, leading the girl to a second bed at the opposite wall that Lily hadn't even noticed before.

"Thank you," Lily croaked as the teacher helped her into bed and gently tucked her in, before she eased a thermometer under her tongue and bathed her hot face with a cold cloth. "Fu bobafu," Lily tried to express her gratitude around the cold stick, causing Minerva to scold her lightly, before her attention was suddenly pulled back to Severus.

"Lily, are you all right?" Severus croaked. "I promise I'll get back at them."

"She is as ill as you are," Minerva replied, taking the thermometer back, "and you'll both concentrate on recovering and not on getting revenge on anyone." She made Lily drink the potions Theresa had left on Severus' night table and gently adjusted the cold cloth to her forehead. "Both of you should try to sleep for a while, so you'll at least feel a bit better for Christmas."

Seeing that both children seemed to be willing to listen for once, Minerva decided to pay Lily's parents a visit, knowing that the house-elves would be able to call Poppy or Theresa in case the students needed them. "Lily, I'm going to inform your parents. Do you want me to take your Christmas presents with you?"

"Oh yes please," Lily said, throwing the professor a grateful look. "There are four, two for my mother, one for my father, and one for my sister. Shall I go and get them?"

"You won't be going anywhere. I'm well able to read the names on the parcels. It's good that you wrapped them yesterday. If any of you feels worse, you can call Margaret or Malcolm. They will fetch either Madam Pomfrey or me if necessary, but I expect to be back shortly."

"Please tell my mother I'll write to her as soon as I can," Lily croaked, closing her eyes in exhaustion.

_tbc..._


	10. 10

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Lily and Severus slept for a few hours, only waking up by the time Minerva returned from her visit to the Evans and to Hogwarts to speak with the Headmaster.

Unfortunately, later that day Severus began to develop a rash that spread from his hands and feet over his whole arms and legs. He felt very unwell, and the rash was so itching that he couldn't sleep at all, in spite of the cream, which Minerva applied to his skin every two hours.

Feeling very sorry for her friend, Lily tried to stay awake in order to keep Severus company, although she was feeling horrible herself.

"Severus, have you already decided, which animal you want to become?" she queried as Minerva once more applied the healing cream to his skin.

"I'm not sure yet," Severus replied thoughtfully. "Since both of you are cats, I'd love to become a cat too in order to be able to communicate with you. On the other hand, I'd like to try transforming into a magical animal, provided that's possible at all."

"How about a combination of both?" Minerva threw in as she gently pulled his pyjama sleeve down and turned to his other arm.

"A magical cat?" Severus croaked in disbelief, causing Minerva to laugh at his expression. "Are there any? I assume you don't mean something like a tiger, or would you want to have a tiger in your house?"

"Well, normally I'd say go to the library and check it out," Minerva replied, shutting him up by coaxing a thermometer under his tongue, "however, in this case I'm afraid I have to tell you a few things. You're correct; I didn't mean a tiger. Oh no, you really got it bad; your rash is spreading all over your neck and face," she interrupted herself, continuing to bathe Severus' flushed face with a cold cloth.

"Ga agiga?" Severus queried, causing Minerva to throw him an exasperated look.

"Keep quiet for a moment; otherwise we'll have to begin all over again."

"What animal?" Severus repeated his question as soon as Minerva took the annoying stick out.

"Let me just apply the cream to your neck and face," Minerva replied, ignoring his question as she made some notes for Poppy and Theresa on the card on Severus' night table.

"The cream helps, but it doesn't stop the itching," Severus complained. "Minerva, could I ask Malcolm to bring me the recipe for the cream from the library, so I could see if I can somehow improve it?"

Minerva threw him an exasperated look. "As soon as you're fully back to health, I don't mind you doing potions research; however, you're spiking a fever of forty degrees and are in no condition to do such a thing. Try to sleep a bit, while I check on Lily."

"I can't sleep; it itches too much," Severus mumbled, causing Minerva to look at him sympathetically.

"At least try to rest for a while," she said softly, stepping over to Lily's bed. "Let's see if you already have a rash."

"I don't think so," Lily croaked, showing the professor her arms, before she closed her eyes in exhaustion.

"Maybe it's still too early. Try to sleep as much as you can today," Minerva replied gently. "Can you open your mouth and let me take your temperature? As soon as Poppy or Theresa comes tonight, I'll ask her for a wrist band for you."

"Okay. Can you tell us about the magical cat then?" Lily whispered, holding her hand in front of her mouth.

"Very well," Minerva agreed, surprised at how hot the girl's skin felt already. "Have you heard of a lynx before? There is a magical form of a lynx. It's an animal like the normal lynx; however, it has a few special features. It can move absolutely soundlessly, and it can change its colour at will."

"I'd love to try transforming into a magical lynx," Severus croaked. "May I go to the library just for a few minutes and check if I can find anything about it?"

"No," Minerva replied, sighing as she took the thermometer back from Lily. "You need your next dose of potions, and then you should try to sleep for a while, Lily." She gently adjusted the cloth she had charmed to stay cool on the girl's forehead and promised, "Severus, I'll see if I can find a book for you."

When Lily woke up the next time, Minerva was sitting on the edge of Severus' bed, reading to him from an old tome.

"When can we begin practising to transform?" Severus asked impatiently, causing Lily to smile.

"I'd love to practise soon," she agreed, letting out a few harsh coughs.

"Lily, are you awake?" Minerva said, turning around. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit dizzy," Lily replied, closing her eyes again.

"She's lucky. I wished I could sleep that much," Severus whispered, causing Minerva to close the book and set it on the night table.

"She doesn't have her rash yet," she said softly. "We'll ask Madam Pomfrey if she can do something to make you sleep for a few hours."

HP

When Poppy came to check on the students, she unobtrusively cast a sleeping spell at Severus, before she connected him to an I.V.

"Go and do something for you, Minerva. You must be exhausted from looking after these two the whole day," she said gently. "I'll remain here until Granny comes to stay for the night."

"All right, thank you, Poppy. I'd love to do some Christmas preparations, considering that we have Christmas Eve tomorrow."

HP

In the middle of the night, Severus woke up, flinching back badly as he took in something huge in front of the window. "A dragon," he croaked, anxiously reaching for Theresa's hand, "right behind you."

Theresa glanced around, smiling as she gently patted Severus' hand. "That's all right, Severus. It's not a dragon; it's the Christmas tree Minerva conjured. Today is Christmas Eve. I assume she didn't decorate it yet, because she hoped you and Lily would feel better today and might be interested to help. How are you feeling, by the way?"

"Icky," Severus replied, "and this..." he raised his left hand, to which the I.V. was connected, "... stings a bit."

"Hmmm, let me see," Theresa said thoughtfully, gently removing the gauze that was covering the needle going into the boy's left hand.

"Ouch," Severus mumbled, trying to glance around Theresa's arm to see what she was doing, before he let out a gasp. "What's that? A needle?"

"Shush, it's all right, Severus. Let me try to adjust it a bit, and it won't hurt anymore," Theresa replied soothingly.

"No, please, I don't want that thing in my hand," Severus croaked, terrified.

"Severus, you're very ill. You didn't eat anything yesterday and only a few spoonfuls the day before, and you're dehydrated because of your high fever. This bag here is filled with potions, which are dripping through your hand straight into your system, which is much more efficient than if you drank them. This will help you recover much faster." Seeing that Severus was on the verge of crying, she pulled a small phial out of her robe pocket, tapping it with her wand to spell the calming draught straight into the boy's stomach, noticing that he calmed down immediately.

"Now, is that better now?" she asked softly after re-adjusting the connection.

"Yes, I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey," Severus mumbled tiredly, already closing his eyes to drift off to sleep.

'_Thank Merlin I had the calming draught with me_,' Theresa mused as she searched her robe pockets for a headache potion, gratefully gulping it down, before she stepped over to Lily's bed and cast a few diagnostic spells, surprised that the girl hadn't woken up by the commotion. '_At least she didn't get it as bad as Severus, because we caught it earlier_,' she thought in relief as she carefully waved her wand at the girl, noticing that she only had a light rash that reached from her hands to her elbows.

HP

In the morning, both children were too ill to help decorating the Christmas tree; however, they watched in amazement as Minerva conjured colourful baubles and other ornaments, until Malcolm popped in and told her the Headmaster wanted her to come to Hogwarts for lunch.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to leave you alone for an hour," Minerva sighed, glad that she had just given Lily her potions and applied the cream to both children's skin thirty minutes ago. "If you have any problems, ask one of the elves to fetch me. All right?"

"Of course, Professor," Lily reassured her smiling.

"All right," Severus mumbled, unsure why he suddenly felt a bit uncertain at the thought of Minerva leaving them on their own.

"I know what I'm going to do," Lily giggled ten minutes later, as she scrambled out of bed, reaching for her wand.

"Oh Lily, whatever you're going to do, you'll be in so much trouble if she finds out," Severus groaned, uncomfortably nestling at his left hand, where the needle had begun to sting again.

"Severus, you should stay away from that thing," Lily said soothingly, changing her direction to sit on the edge of his bed for a moment. "Does it hurt a lot?" she queried softly, glancing at his yellowish face in concern.

"No, it just feels a bit uncomfortable, and it stings a bit, but there is nothing to do about it," Severus replied, resolving to once more beg Theresa to take it off when she would come to stay for the night.

"I don't like being ill, but I'm glad we're here together for Christmas," Lily said hoarsely, before she stood up, turning to the tree.

"Professor Flitwick taught me a charm in order to add moving patterns to objects," Lily explained as she pointed her wand at a golden bauble.

Severus observed in absolute amazement as the girl added a pattern of three playing cats to the ornament. "That's brilliant," he croaked, excitedly trying to sit up.

"No, stay put, Sev," Lily said firmly, pointing her wand at a green bauble. "What do you want on it? A bubbling cauldron?"

Severus watched as she added a pattern of a bubbling cauldron to the green ornament. Several potions ingredients came flying from all sides, successively landing in the cauldron. '_It looks beautiful. She must be very adept at Charms_,' he mused as he lay back in exhaustion, while Lily continued adding a roaring lion to the orange bauble as well as a hissing snake to a silver one.

"I think that suffices," she mumbled as he tiredly sat down on the edge of Severus' bed, gently moving his right hand away from his face that he was just about to scratch. "Don't scratch, Sev," she scolded him lightly. "I know it's very unnerving. Shall I put the cream on your face?"

"Ah, it's all right," Severus replied shyly, knowing that Lily was sick as well. "I think you should go back to bed, before Minerva comes back and catches you here."

"Okay; if you're sure you don't want me to apply the cream for you," she offered once more, noticing his apparent urge to scratch his face.

"Are you sure you won't mind?" Severus asked hesitantly, averting his eyes to his covers.

"Of course not," Lily replied softly, taking the cream from his night table, and gently began to apply a spoonful to the rash on his face. "Here you go. Does that feel better?"

"That's much better, thank you so much," Severus mumbled gratefully, hesitantly reaching for Lily's hand.

"Miss Evans, what are you doing out of bed?" Poppy's angry voice suddenly made the students cringe.

"Severus' rash in his face was very icky; so I just applied the cream to his face. I was just going back to bed," Lily explained softly, lightly squeezing Severus' hand before she hurried back to her own bed, causing the Mediwitch to wave her wand over her, clucking disapprovingly.

"You aggravated your condition very much. I thought you were more responsible. You could have easily asked the house-elves to fetch my grandmother and me. Your rash has expanded up to your shoulders, and your fever is too high for my liking. I think you need an I.V. too." Poppy's voice slowly changed from anger to concern.

"Oh no, please not," Lily replied, panicking. "I promise I'll stay in bed now, and I'll do everything you say."

"All right, we'll wait and see for a few more hours. Now let me apply the cream to your arms." She sat on the edge of Lily's bed, gently smearing the cream on the girl's arms. "Now be very careful; you don't want to have it in your face as well," Poppy instructed her and made her way to Severus' bed.

"How are you feeling, young man?"

"Better now that Lily applied the cream to my face, but," he raised his left hand just a little bit, "this is so unnerving. Can't you take it off, please?"

Poppy sighed and glanced at the card on his night table, before she waved her wand over him. "I'm sorry, Severus, but I'm afraid you'll have to keep it for a few more days. You may ask my grandmother tomorrow morning, if she can take it off for a few hours, so you can use both hands to open your Christmas presents, but other than that..." She slowly trailed off and took the gauze off to closely look at his hand, sighing. "It probably is especially annoying because you have the rash so bad that it spread even here where I inserted the needle. Yesterday, you didn't have a rash here. That's why I chose exactly this spot. But as long as your rash is still spreading, it doesn't make sense to try it elsewhere. I'm sorry, Severus."

Poppy gently applied the cream on his whole hand as well as on both arms and had just begun to wrap his hand again, when Minerva entered the room, looking murderous.

"Minerva, what's wrong?" Lily queried, terrified at the professor's expression.

Minerva let out a sigh and sat on the edge of her bed. "Messrs. Potter and Black saw fit to leave the hospital wing under Mr. Potter's invisibility cloak to return to the Gryffindor common room and spread the disease to your housemates who stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays."

Ignoring Lily's and Severus' gasp, she continued, "And they must have willingly made the others sick, because they had to touch them in order for them to get it. Fortunately, only three of the remaining six Gryffindors caught it, and they went to see Poppy at the first sign of the illness, so they didn't get it too bad. Nevertheless, I'm very angry, and I'd like to suspend Potter and Black for a while, but the Headmaster doesn't agree. He merely wants them to serve detention in the hospital wing again."

"Those two are an absolute horror," Lily mumbled sleepily. "Dumbledore should have already suspended Black when he poisoned Severus."

"Some things are not as easy as they seem, although I completely share your opinion," Minerva said gently. "Now go to sleep for a while." She carefully adjusted the cold cloth to her forehead and stood up to look after Severus.

Poppy quickly filled Minerva in about the children's conditions and excused herself, promising to be back in a few hours to check on them again. "I unobtrusively spelled a few drops of a mild sleeping potion into Severus' drip bag; it'll begin to make him drowsy in a few minutes, and he should be able to sleep for a few hours."

"All right. Thank you, Poppy, for coming here while I was at Hogwarts," Minerva said gratefully.

"No problem, Minnie. Now that I have Granny with me, I'm much more flexible than before. You can call me to watch over them at any time," Poppy said gently and left the room.

_tbc..._


	11. 11

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

Chapter 11

Minerva sat on the edge of Severus' bed, giving him a piercing look. "Is there anything I can do for you, Severus?" she queried, gently pushing an errand strand of hair out of his face.

"No, thank you. I'm just a bit unnerved because of the rash," Severus replied quietly. "Look, what Lily did with your baubles." He raised his right hand, pointing to the Christmas tree.

"Lily did that?" Minerva gasped, carefully taking the gold bauble into her hands. "She must be extremely talented at Charms."

"I think so. She told me Professor Flitwick taught her how to do that."

"No wonder she aggravated her condition," Minerva sighed.

"I could never do such a thing," Severus mumbled tiredly. "I'm neither good at Charms nor at Transfiguration, especially not if Potter and Black sit nearby trying to distract me."

"You are neither bad at Charms nor at Transfiguration, Severus. As your guardian, your professors always keep me informed about your progress, so I know that you're good at all subjects. You can't be as talented in everything as you are at Potions, and if you ever have problems, you can come and ask. I'll always try to help you."

"Thank you, Mum," Severus mumbled sleepily, and Minerva saw that his eyes drooped and he slowly drifted off to sleep. She turned to the Christmas tree, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

'_Well, we can all play with it_,' Minerva thought as she waved her wand and conjured three animated cats that ran along the branches of the tree, playing together. Once more waving her wand she conjured a dozen cauldrons. Several kinds of ingredients were flying into the cauldrons and mixed up, before a white mist emerged from the cauldrons, floating down onto the tree as snow.

With that she turned back to her ward, noticing that he was talking in his sleep. However, he spoke in a small voice and seemed to slur the words, so she couldn't understand what he was saying, except for single words that didn't make sense.

HP

When Severus woke up, it was already dark, and a blurry figure was sitting on a chair next to his bed, apparently reading something. '_Probably Theresa; I really like it when she is here_,' Severus thought as he shifted lightly in his bed, causing the Mediwitch to look up.

"Hello Severus, how are you feeling?" she queried gently, moving to sit on the edge of his bed.

"All right," he mumbled, absentmindedly trying to scratch the part of his hand that was hidden under the gauze.

Theresa frowned. "Poppy told me that your rash spread under the dressing. If you promise not to scratch and to be very careful not to pull the needle out, I'll take the gauze off, so you'll probably be a bit more comfortable," she said thoughtfully.

"Yes please," Severus croaked, trying to lift his arm towards Theresa, but somehow, he felt too weak. '_Why is my arm so heavy_?' he mused as he let himself sink back in exhaustion.

Theresa, who had observed his attempt, gently laid her cold hand on his hot cheek. "Don't worry, Severus," she said softly, "you're just reaching the worst step of your illness. Be patient for another day or two, and you'll slowly begin to feel better. I had hoped your fever would break by tonight or tomorrow morning, but unfortunately your case is the worst case of the Squid's flu I've ever seen. The good thing of being here together with Minerva and Lily is that if you're feeling too bad tomorrow, the three of you can have Christmas at another day."

"How is Lily?" Severus asked, worriedly trying to glance around Theresa to get a glimpse at his friend.

"She is much better off than you, because we caught it earlier," the old Mediwitch said gently as she examined Severus' hand after taking the gauze off. She carefully applied the ointment to his rash, noticing that Severus sighed in obvious relief as the cold cream soothed his burning skin. '_Thank Merlin he's about to drift off to sleep_,' she mused as she finished with his arms and used magic to properly adjust his pyjamas so as not to wake him up unnecessarily.

However, she had just applied the cream to his neck and face and set the small glass container down on the night table, when Severus frantically tried to get into an upright position, throwing her a terrified look.

"Madam Pomfrey, I nearly forgot. It's Christmas day, isn't it? I need to fetch my presents for Minerva and Lily as well as for you and Poppy."

Theresa let out the air she hadn't even noticed she had been holding in. "Severus, you are definitely not leaving your bed tonight. Tell me where your presents are, and I'm going to get them for you," she said in exasperation.

HP

By the time Theresa had placed Severus' presents under the tree, the boy had drifted off to sleep.

_Severus and Lily were sitting next to the lake at Hogwarts doing homework on a beautiful summer day, apparently a day during the summer holidays, because he couldn't see any other students. All of a sudden, two strange animals came out of the forest, heading straight for them. 'What animals are they, and what can I do to protect Lily?' Severus mused, beginning to panic, when the animals raised their legs, kicking Lily and Severus into the lake._

'_Lily, where is Lily?' Severus thought, noticing that the water became icy-cold as he began to panic, until he saw the Giant Squid lift Lily out of the water, where the two animals suddenly turned into Potter and Black and carried Lily away._

"_Let Lily go!" Severus shouted, panting as the Giant Squid helped him out of the water as well. He tried to run after the Gryffindors but collapsed to the ground._

The next thing Severus knew was that Theresa was sitting on the edge of his bed, gently shaking his shoulder. "Lily?" Severus whispered, still fully aware of the contents of his nightmare.

"Everything is all right, Severus; Lily is fast asleep. You had a nightmare. Will you tell me what it was about?" she asked kindly, causing Severus to quietly fill her in about his dream, while Theresa gently bathed his hot forehead with an ice-cold sponge.

"That was a horrible dream; how good that Lily is here in your room with us, so you can really be sure that she is fine," the old Mediwitch said softly, pointing her wand at Severus' head to take his temperature.

"Yeah," Severus agreed miserably.

"Now, let me help you sit up and drink some water, or would you prefer pumpkin juice?"

"Pumpkin juice please," Severus whispered, gratefully sipping the cool liquid as Theresa pressed the glass to his lips.

"Now try to go back to sleep; I'll wake you up if I notice you're having a nightmare again," she coaxed, watching as the child succumbed to the small amount of calming draught she had spelled into the juice.

During the next few hours, both children were sleeping peacefully; however, by the time Minerva entered the room in the morning, Severus was thrashing around violently, frantically croaking, "No, please don't, stop it, no!"

"What's wrong?" Minerva asked lazily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"His fever is spiking," Theresa replied worriedly, quickly transfiguring the boy's bed into a bathtub.

During the whole day, Severus was captured in fever induced nightmares. Minerva spent the day sitting next to him, trying to calm him down, only leaving his side to look after Lily from time to time. Most of his delirious dreams either revolved around his father or about his Gryffindor classmates and Lily.

"Minerva, please, let me get up and sit with him for a while," Lily begged the professor when Severus once more frantically shouted her name.

"Lily, you're very ill, too," Minerva replied worriedly. On one hand, she knew that Severus really needed the girl; on the other hand, she didn't want Lily's condition to worsen. Finally making a decision, she gently helped Lily to stand up and walk over to Severus' bed. Noticing that the girl was too dizzy to keep herself upright in a sitting position, she motioned her to lie down next to Severus. '_This is an exception; both are too ill to even think about doing anything, and I'm here with them anyway_,' he told herself to calm her inner voice that was screaming at her not to allow two students to share a bed. Slightly relieved she watched as Severus protectively laid his arm around his friend and his breathing evened out.

Lily nestled into his embrace and drifted off to sleep as well. During the rest of the afternoon, both children remained asleep peacefully, and Minerva used the quiet time to grade the first pile of tests, knowing that she still had a lot of work to do until the end of the holidays.

Only when Poppy entered the room, saying, "Happy Christmas, Minnie," Minerva remembered that it was Christmas Day.

"Oh," she sighed, "we seem to have missed Christmas completely. I hope they'll be well enough tomorrow or the day after to have a belated Christmas."

Poppy threw her a sceptical look and replied, "Minerva, Granny has ordered me to stay with them until she comes to take over around curfew. Why don't you go to Hogwarts and attend Christmas dinner? You probably didn't leave their sides during the day, and you better take proper care of yourself and don't skip meals."

Minerva quickly filled her friend in about their day, explaining why Lily was fast asleep in Severus' arms, before she asked, "Poppy, are you sure you want to look after them the whole evening?"

"Of course, Minnie, and you better eat dinner at Hogwarts, because I'll ask Albus about it," Poppy replied, throwing her friend her sternest Healer's glare.

"I didn't check on them, nor did I make them take their potions yet, because I didn't want to wake them up. They're sleeping so peacefully for once."

"No problem, Minnie, I'll take care of them. Please go and enjoy yourself, and take your time. You only have to take over in the morning, so Granny can return to Hogwarts," Poppy said softly. As soon as her friend left the room, she turned into Healer's mode, waving her wand over her patients.

HP

After a last glance on her students, Minerva threw her school robes over and stepped into the fireplace in her office to take the Floo to her office at Hogwarts. '_Christmas Dinner_,' she mused as she stepped out into the corridor; however, suddenly finding the thought not too appeasing, she returned to her office to head into her private quarters.

Only now realising that she wasn't only exhausted but had a terrible headache, Minerva went straight into her bedroom and let herself sink onto her comfortable bed. '_Ah, that feels good_,' she mused. '_Maybe it's because I didn't get any fresh air these days, and I spent the whole day looking after the kids_.' She rested her achy head for a few minutes, realising that she needed a headache potion to somehow survive the evening at Albus' side. '_Theresa will be in the hospital wing_,' she remembered, '_better her than Poppy. Poppy would only scold me for not taking care of myself, although it's not my fault_.'

She scrambled out of bed and slowly walked through the empty halls towards the hospital wing.

"Minerva, is everything all right?" Theresa greeted her worriedly.

"Yes, of course, thank you for sending Poppy to take over for me; it's good to get some free time," Minerva replied gratefully, trying to setup a joyful expression, which was, however, unable to fool the old Mediwitch.

"What's wrong, Minnie? Are you feeling unwell?" she queried, giving the woman, who had always been like a second granddaughter to her, a sharp look.

"It's nothing; just a bit of a headache. I thought I needed a potion in order to survive Albus' cheerfulness," Minerva replied dryly.

Theresa instantly switched into Healer's mode, coaxing Minerva to sit on the sofa in her office. "You're running a slight temperature as well, but I'm not sure why. It could either be the beginning of a head cold or just the stress of looking after the children the whole time." She snatched a small phial of a special headache potion from the shelf, handing it to the teacher. "Lie down here until the potion kicks in, and then we'll head to dinner together. Afterwards, I want you to check on you once more, either here or later at McGonagall Manor."

HP

At the same time, Severus woke up, surprised to feel something warm snuggled up against his side. He cracked his eyes open, letting out a few harsh coughs that caused Lily to wake up, too.

"Just as well that you both woke up at the same time," Poppy said softly, "because I need to apply the ointment to your arms and legs, which is difficult if you're lying next to each other. Lily, do you feel well enough to sit up or move a bit to the foot end, so I can tend to Severus first?"

"Of course," Lily replied sleepily and sat up, carefully moving out of Poppy's way and the I.V. "Everything is blurry," she mumbled, resting her head against the foot end of the bed.

"I'll be quick," the Mediwitch promised, throwing the girl a concerned look, before she applied the cream on Severus' rash. "Does it still itch?" she asked sympathetically as she gently helped Lily to lie down again.

"Yes, but I feel a bit better," Severus whispered, watching as Poppy applied the ointment to Lily's skin. "Why is Lily in my bed?" he asked in surprise.

"I'm sorry," Lily croaked, "but you were delirious and kept shouting for me; so I thought... Shall I go back to my own bed?"

"No," Severus replied, lazily pulling her back into his arms, before he drifted back to sleep.

"Thank you so much," Lily said gratefully when Poppy set the cream back on the night table, "it feels much better now. Have you seen our Christmas tree by the way?"

Lily and Poppy spent the next two hours talking about Hogwarts, classes, magic, Healing, and many other things, until Poppy finally made Lily drink a glass of pumpkin juice laced with a sip of sleeping draught, noticing that the girl apparently wasn't able to get the sleep she needed so much to regain her health.

Lily had just finally drifted off to sleep, when Theresa entered the room with a white-faced Minerva on a stretcher floating in front of her and a troubled expression on her always calm face.

"Poppy, we have a problem," she sighed, lowering Minerva on Lily's bed.

"What's wrong with Minnie, Granny?" Poppy asked in concern.

"Minerva came to me with a headache and a slight temperature right before dinner. I gave her one of the headache potions that are laced with the fever reducer, made her rest for ten minutes and took her down to the Great Hall for Christmas Dinner," Theresa explained slowly. "Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Minerva and me, Albus saw fit to exchange her glass with water with a glass of sparkling wine. At first, Minerva didn't notice anything; only after drinking two glasses, she became very dizzy and realised what the problem was, and since she hardly ate anything, the alcohol acted badly with the potion she had taken earlier."

"Oh no, alcohol poisoning!" Poppy gasped, throwing her friend a worried look. "How is she? Is it bad?" She bustled to Minerva's side, waving her wand a few times. "I'm so sorry, Minnie," she said softly as she transfigured a tissue into an ice-cold cloth, lowering it onto her friend's forehead.

"Why did she have a fever in the first place?" Poppy turned back to her grandmother.

"I don't know; I thought it was either the beginning of a head cold or just stress, but it wasn't high; nothing compared to what it is now. She'll have to remain in bed for at least a day, maybe more, since we can't give her any potions for at least forty-eight hours. Poppy, can you take shifts with me looking after the three of them here tomorrow?"

"Of course, Granny. I'll come back after lunch." With that Poppy returned to Hogwarts, where a very worried Headmaster was hovering in her office, apologizing over and over, until the Mediwitch told him bluntly he had to apologize to Minerva and not to her.

_tbc..._


	12. 12

**Severus McGonagall  
****by Healer Pomfrey****  
**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Several hours later, Severus woke up due to strange sounds. '_It sounds like Minerva, but she should be asleep in her room now_,' he mused, glancing at Theresa, who had fallen asleep in her chair next to the Christmas tree. '_Oh no, Minerva is sleeping in Lily's bed, and she seems to have a nightmare_,' he suddenly realised, surprised that neither Lily nor Theresa woke up. He slowly sat up, waited a moment until the dizziness passed and slowly scrambled to the foot end of the bed to get up without disturbing Lily. Carefully dragging the I.V. stand with him, he unsteadily walked over to the other bed and let himself sink on the edge.

"No, Albus, you can't take three thousand points from Gryffindor just because the sixth-years hid your lemon drops," Minerva mumbled as a violent shiver shook her body.

Severus gently shook her shoulder. "Minerva, wake up; you're having a nightmare," he croaked, causing his guardian to stir.

"Severus," she mumbled, cracking her eyes open, only to close them again right away. "Thank you, Severus; please go back to bed."

Severus threw her a worried look, noticing in concern that she was slurring the words. "Shall I get Madam Pomfrey for you?" he queried, gently taking the cold cloth from her forehead to bathe her flushed face. "Or is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Yes, you can invent a potion to prank the Headmaster," Minerva mumbled, holding her head in agony.

Two days later, Minerva was up and about again, and Severus' and Lily's conditions had improved greatly. "I believe it's time for Christmas," Minerva spoke up right before Theresa was about to leave for Hogwarts, knowing that there were presents for the two Mediwitches as well. "Theresa, do you still have time to eat Christmas breakfast with us?"

"Of course," the old Mediwitch said gently and carefully took the I.V. off from Severus' arm. "This is only temporary, sweetie," she informed the boy, who threw her a pleading look.

"Can't you please take it off completely? I'm already so much better."

"We'll leave it on for today except for breakfast and see how you are tonight," Theresa said softly as she motioned Lily and Severus to take a seat at the table Minerva had just conjured before she had asked Margaret for breakfast, which popped up an instant later. Minerva magically lit the lights on the Christmas tree, causing everyone to admire the tree in amazement.

Severus and Lily each managed to eat half a bowl of soup, before they felt completely full and tired from being up for the first time in days.

"I suggest you go back to bed, to your own beds this time, and we magically distribute the presents," Minerva suggested, realising that the children still were not their usual selves. With a flick of her wand, the presents for Lily and Severus piled themselves on the children's night tables, while the presents for Minerva and Theresa arranged themselves on the breakfast table.

"Are these all for me?" Severus asked in disbelief, eyeing the pile of colourfully wrapped presents next to his bed as Theresa hooked him back to the I.V.

"Yes of course, sweetie," Minerva replied softly, taking a seat on the edge of his bed to help him unwrap, while Theresa joined Lily.

The first present Severus received contained two sweatshirts. One of them was dark blue with a huge cauldron at the front that was just exploding over a small black cat that asked, '_Was it clockwise or anti-clockwise?_' The other sweatshirt was kept in dark green and held a simple writing in white letters, '_I love Potions_.'

"They are gorgeous," Severus said softly, throwing his guardian a grateful look.

"I'm glad you like them," Minerva replied, smiling, handing him her next present, which held six bottomless phials of potions ingredients. "They are self-refilling," she explained at Severus' curious look.

"Oh wow, that's absolutely brilliant," the child croaked, turning the phial with the inscription 'moon fern' in his hands.

"Well, the magical world has some good inventions," Minerva smiled. "Poppy suggested these potions, because they are the most frequently used ingredients for Healing potions." She carefully set the phials back on the night table and slowly unwrapped the next present, suddenly jerking back badly, causing Severus to flinch back in shock.

He let out a small cry at the sudden pain from nearly pulling the I.V. needle out of his hand due to his abrupt movement. "What's wrong?" he queried, gripping his hand in pain as he threw Minerva a surprised look.

"This is alive," Minerva stated, clearly terrified as she pointed to a green being in the glass in her hands in obvious disgust.

Severus reached out to take the glass from her, looking at the ingredients. "Oh wow, these are Grindylow tails; of course they're alive and moving, but they're very difficult to get. This is absolutely amazing. Madam Pomfrey, thank you so much," he said in excitement, causing the old Mediwitch to smile. Suddenly, Severus became pensive for a moment. "Minerva, I think I have an idea for the potion you asked me for."

"I asked you for a potion?" Minerva queried in confusion.

"Oh well, the other night, when you were delirious, you asked me to invent a prank potion for the Headmaster. I have an idea. May I get up and do some research in the library and then try to brew something?"

Minerva groaned inwardly, sensing that she would have a hard time to keep the child in bed until he was well enough to get up. "You may only get up if Madam Pomfrey allows you, and as far as Poppy told me you should not brew anything as long as you have your rash," she finally replied, handing a disappointed Severus Poppy's present.

Severus found a small book entitled, '_Funny but Harmless Potions_' and a very thick volume, '_Most Efficient Healing Potions_.'

"This is from Poppy and me together," Theresa explained as she changed positions with Minerva. "All the potions we need in the hospital wing are in this book, and it is self-updating. Whenever you or anyone else invents a potion, which is either used at St. Mungo's or in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, it'll automatically be added to the book."

"Oh, thank you so much," Severus sighed happily, tiredly letting himself sink back in his pillows as Theresa took the heavy book off his lap.

"You're welcome, sweetheart. Now go to sleep for a while. You can open the rest of your presents later on," Theresa suggested as she began to gently apply the next layer of cream to his rash.

"Thank you," Severus mumbled, relaxing completely under her soft touch. Seconds later, he was fast asleep.

HP

To Severus' chagrin, he wasn't allowed to brew anything before school commenced at the beginning of January. Lily had recovered a few days after their belated Christmas day and had spent the last three days of the holidays at home on her mother's request. However, Severus still had his rash and was running a fever, and the two Mediwitches only allowed him out of bed on the day before school resumed, when Minerva and he had to return to Hogwarts anyway.

"You still have to take it easy," Theresa told him firmly, only receiving an annoyed nod in return.

During the last few days of the holidays, while Minerva had been extremely busy grading tests and essays, Severus had spent much time skimming potions books that the elves had fetched from the library for him as well as reading through the books he had received for Christmas. When he entered the hospital wing in the evening of his first day of classes, he had three variations of the potion he wanted to try out in his mind. '_I hope one of them will work_,' he thought as he prepared himself for a fight with Theresa and Poppy about testing out potions. '_They are much too overprotective_,' he thought angrily as the two Healers refused resolutely to let him brew, stating that he wasn't well enough to do any work except from his normal school work yet.

'_Oh well, I'll just go to the Potions classroom during the night_,' Severus decided and headed to bed, setting his alarm clock for two o'clock in the morning. '_It seems to be the full moon_,' he realised as he strode through the empty halls a few hours later.

It was nearly five o'clock in the morning, when Severus finished the three versions of his potion. He spent another twenty minutes trying them out on three rats he had captured in the dungeons, seeing in delight that potion number two worked perfectly. '_That's it_,' he chuckled as he filled a small amount of the light green liquid into a tiny phial, banishing the rest of the potions with a flick of his wand. He magically cleared his work space and strode back to Minerva's quarters, not daring to take the shortcut through the hospital wing at that time of the morning. '_Only a bit more than an hour to sleep_,' he groaned inwardly as he scrambled back into bed, drifting off to sleep even before his head hit the pillow.

HP

Minerva woke up early and spent an hour in her office grading homework, before she headed back into the living room, glancing at her wrist watch in surprise as she noticed that Severus still hadn't emerged from his room. They had acquired the habit to meet in the living room at least ten minutes before they needed to leave for breakfast in order to have the chance to speak to each other in private. '_I wonder if he is still feeling unwell_,' she mused, becoming very worried when Severus still didn't show up when it was time to leave. She glanced through the half open door into his room, seeing that the boy was still fast asleep.

"Good morning, sweetie," she said softly as she sat on the edge of his bed, carefully feeling his forehead in concern, causing Severus to jerk awake.

"Oh sorry," he mumbled tiredly, wearily realising that he had forgotten to reset his alarm clock when he returned to bed earlier.

"Are you feeling well?" Minerva asked in concern. "You're a bit warm."

"I'm fine," Severus replied, slightly annoyed by her fussing. "Please go ahead; I'll hurry up now."

"I'm afraid I have to leave," Minerva said after another glance on her wrist watch. "If you're really feeling well, make sure to properly eat breakfast; otherwise, go to the hospital wing to let Madam Pomfrey check on you. You wouldn't want to make yourself worse again so soon."

"Minerva," Severus said, reaching for her arm. "I promise I'm only tired, because I brewed this during the night." He snatched a small phial from his night table, handing it to Minerva. "Your prank potion for the Headmaster. I suggest you give it to one of the elves and ask them to mix it into his drink at breakfast."

"You brewed this during the night?" Minerva queried in disbelief, throwing the boy a stern glare.

"Sorry, Minerva, but I really need to hurry," Severus replied, causing his guardian to stand up.

"We'll continue this conversation tonight; anyway, thank you," Minerva said, still glaring as she grudgingly left the room and hurried to the Great Hall. '_Why does he have to do such stupid things? He should know better than to aggravate his condition to brew a prank potion for me in the middle of the night_,' she mused on her way. '_On the other hand, I'm glad he didn't try to hide it but told me the truth. Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on him_.' Approaching the Head table, she unobtrusively spelled the content of the potion into the Headmaster's tea, safe from her colleagues' eyes as she walked behind the Gryffindor table.

When the Head table came into sight, Minerva couldn't believe her eyes. The Headmaster's features had turned into those of a house-elf; however, his skin was green. '_Oh no, poor Albus_,' Minerva thought, before she recalled what he had done to her on Christmas, even if not on purpose. '_Well, considered what he did, it serves him well_.'

HP

Severus stumbled into the Great Hall right before breakfast ended, throwing an amused glance at the Head table as he listened to his classmates' musings about how long Dumbledore would be a house-elf before the potion, which someone had obviously made him drink, would wear off. '_The potion is not bad_,' he mused, '_although I should have made the green tone a tad lighter_.'

He quickly ingested a banana, before he had to leave for his first class. Lily was waiting for him outside the Great Hall. "Sev, was that your doing?" she whispered on their way up to the Charms classroom, causing her friend to smirk.

"Why do you ask?" he queried, setting up a completely innocent expression. "Do I look so guilty?"

"No." Lily shook her head. "Your indifferent look is as perfect as always," she giggled, "but I know that apart from Professor Slughorn and the two Madam Pomfreys only you would be able to brew something like that."

"Oh no, I'm sure several of the sixth and seventh-years would be able to brew it as well, provided they had my recipe," Severus whispered back, chuckling.

"Did you invent that potion?" Lily gasped, quickly clasping her mouth with her hand when she noticed their classmates throwing them curious looks as they slipped into the last row.

"Yes," Severus mumbled, tiredly laying his head on the table. "Please wake me up when Flitwick arrives."

HP

"I have no idea how long it will last," Severus admitted to Minerva when they met in their quarters after dinner. "It probably depends on the amount of magic the brewer puts into the potion; however, since I was very tired when I brewed it, I'm not sure how strong my magic was at that time. I can imagine it'll last for a few days. Dumbledore doesn't know that we're behind this, does he?"

"Of course not," Minerva replied, chuckling, "and knowing our Headmaster, he'd probably award House points for a good prank. Well, in this case it might depend on how long it lasts until it wears off. I hope he doesn't have an appointment at the Ministry or at any other place during that time."

Severus' face turned white. "Minerva, I'll try to invent the antidote right away. Could you please come with me and try to convince the Mediwitches to let me brew in their lab?"

"You won't do such a thing tonight," Minerva replied firmly, throwing him a sharp look. "You're exhausted, and I want you to go to bed right away."

"All right, good night, Minerva. I'll try to make the antidote tomorrow then," Severus agreed and turned in for the night, unaware of the mixture of confusion and concern spreading on his guardian's face.

Knowing that Severus would neither willingly go to bed at half past seven in the evening nor fall asleep as soon as he lay down, if not for a reason, Minerva called Theresa to check on the child.

"What happened?" Theresa queried, absentmindedly listening to Minerva's explanation as she waved her wand over the boy, causing Minerva to slowly trail off as she noticed the Mediwitch's expression turn livid during the process.

"Minerva, I understand that you don't want to penalize the boy, because you're glad that he told you the truth. However, this doesn't prevent me from punishing him. He depleted his magic to a great extent, and his temperature is slightly elevated. In fact, he asked Poppy and me if he could use our lab to brew his potion yesterday evening, and we both forbade him to brew anything, because we knew that he wasn't well enough yet. I am very disappointed that he knowingly acted against our order to rest and spent the whole night brewing."

"I'm sorry, Theresa, I didn't know that he asked you. I was wondering why he didn't use your lab in the evening instead of being up all night to brew in the dungeons, but I didn't have the chance to interrogate him further, because he seemed so exhausted. Please feel free to punish him as you see fit."

"Very well," Theresa sighed thoughtfully. "If he was any other student, I'd assign detention in the hospital wing; however, I don't want him to aggravate his condition by doing additional chores, nor do I want him to catch any bug, to which he could be exposed in the hospital wing. He will be grounded for two weeks, during which he will go to bed at eight o'clock every evening after coming to our office for a quick check."

Minerva closed her eyes for a few seconds in anticipation of her son's reaction to the punishment. "He won't take that well. Theresa, will you fill him in?"

"Yes, of course. I'll come back in the morning to check on him anyway. If his condition doesn't improve, I can't let him attend classes."

_tbc..._


	13. 13

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Severus was still asleep when Theresa entered his room in the morning. "Good morning, sleepyhead," she said softly, gently pushing a few errand strands of hair from his forehead, causing Severus to stir at the cool touch.

"What's wrong?" he asked in confusion.

"You depleted your magic and aggravated your condition when you spent hours in the Potions classroom brewing the other night," Theresa said sternly. "If you feel well enough, you may attend classes; however, you must not perform any magic until I tell you otherwise. I will inform your teachers accordingly."

"I'm fine," Severus replied with an extremely annoyed expression on his face.

"You are not fine," the Mediwitch said firmly and continued, informing him about the punishment for acting against Poppy's and her explicit orders, causing Severus to become very upset.

"Oh no, please, Madam Pomfrey, make me do chores or brew for you or anything, but don't make me go to bed so early. I'm not a baby."

"You are eleven, and for an eleven-year old with an unstable health condition like yours eight o'clock is a very reasonable bed time," Theresa replied firmly. "I'll see you tonight for your check-up."

Severus angrily followed the old Mediwitch with his eyes as she left his room. '_No, you won't_,' he thought furiously.

HP

"I'm going to skip Defence," Severus told Lily on their way to the Great Hall after their last morning class. "If I'm not allowed to do magic, it doesn't make sense anyway."

"That's true. Why don't you go and take a nap in the meantime?" Lily asked softly, noticing in concern that his face was slightly flushed and pearls of sweat were threatening to drip down from his temples.

"I'll see you later," Severus mumbled and returned to his room to fetch his warm robes, before he headed out onto the grounds for a walk around the lake. '_Maybe I should begin with my homework_,' he mused as he sat down in front of a large tree, leaning his back against the trunk, and pulled his Transfiguration book out of his school bag.

'_I don't know why Theresa punished me so harshly_,' he mused as he tried to concentrate on the task ahead. '_Yes, I acted against their orders, but Minerva asked me for the potion, and it was not a big deal to brew it_.' A small voice at the back of his mind spoke up, '_But Minerva didn't want you to make yourself worse by being up all night, and Poppy and Theresa only mean well. You should have listened to them_.' Severus sighed, realising that his head had begun to hurt badly. Suddenly the prospect of heading to bed early that night didn't seem so bad anymore.

By the time he finished his Transfiguration homework, he was so tired that he couldn't keep his eyes open. Resting his head on the book on his knees, he drifted off to sleep in the blink of an eye, oblivious to the fact that the second afternoon class had already begun.

HP

At exactly eight o'clock in the evening, an infuriated Theresa entered Minerva's quarters. "Minerva, have you seen Severus?" she queried.

"No. I haven't seen him the whole day except for when I had him in class in the second period this morning. Did you already speak with him about his punishment?"

"Yes, I did," Theresa replied angrily. "I told him this morning. He was supposed to be in his room since the last afternoon class ended."

"I'll go and ask Lily," Minerva said thoughtfully. "If I remember correctly, she was in the common room when I looked in earlier. I was surprised, because they always spend their time together, but I didn't ask, because I thought you had already told him about being grounded. That was before I came home to see he wasn't here."

Five minutes later, Minerva returned to her quarters with an expression of utmost concern on her face. "Lily told me she hasn't seen him since before lunch. He told her he was going to miss Defence because he wasn't allowed to do magic anyway, and she apparently excused him with the teacher. But he didn't show up for History of Magic either, nor did he attend dinner. She thought he was in his room sleeping. Theresa, I'm really worried now. Where can he have gone?"

"Don't panic, Minerva. Call Margaret and Malcolm; they should be able to find him immediately," Theresa said calmingly, efficiently hiding her concern from the younger witch.

HP

Ten hours later, Severus' mind slowly turned back to awareness. However, he found that his surroundings were strangely blurry as if he was surrounded by a thick fog, and his ears were ringing oddly. '_I'm back in my room_,' he noticed wearily, '_but how did I get here?_'

"You can't go to classes today. Stay in bed and rest," he heard a stern voice like from far away, causing him to slowly turn his achy head towards the room.

'_No one is here. Was that Theresa's voice? She sounded very angry_,' Severus thought, suddenly feeling very bad. '_I merely wanted to sit by the lake for a while and not anger her, but I must have fallen asleep_,' he mused, fighting hard to keep the tears back that formed in the back of his eyes at the thought of the kind Mediwitch, who always behaved like a grandmother towards him. "I'm so sorry," he sobbed into the fog, until his sobs quickly turned into a harsh cough.

"Severus," he suddenly took in Minerva's voice and felt his guardian sit on the edge of his bed. "What's wrong, sweetie? Are you feeling so unwell?" she queried in concern.

"No, but Madam Pomfrey is very angry, isn't she? I didn't mean to fall asleep out on the grounds," Severus explained, annoyed to realise that his voice came out as a croak.

Minerva let out a long sigh. Although she had been very angry the evening before, she felt bad to see the child so desperate. "Yes, they are angry, because you didn't take care of yourself. You were supposed to be grounded, you missed your daily check-up at eight o'clock last night, and you were very reckless to spend so much time out on the cold grounds. You caught a bad cold, and Theresa spent most part of the night with you, because she was afraid it would turn into pneumonia."

"May I go and apologize?" Severus queried, although he wasn't sure if he would made it through the fog still surrounding him.

"You won't go anywhere until Madam Pomfrey allows you out of bed, son," Minerva replied sternly, glaring at the boy. "I have to leave now, but I'll look in on you between classes. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will come to check on you every now and then so you'll be able to apologize."

"Okay," Severus replied tiredly. He turned to the wall as soon as Minerva had left, thinking about the previous day. '_How could I be so stupid?_' he mused, recalling that he had been very upset because of Theresa's punishment. '_I have to apologize to her. I didn't want to anger her_,' he thought over and over as he searched for a cool spot on his pillow to rest his head that had begun to hurt terribly.

Not wanting to sleep before apologizing, Severus kept himself awake in spite of feeling horrible. Poppy came to check on him every hour, but it was always Poppy, and Severus wanted to speak with Theresa. She was the one who gave him his punishment, and she was the one who was like a grandmother to him. Severus waited the whole day, but there was no sign of the old Mediwitch.

"Theresa?" he queried once Poppy was making him drink his next dose of potions, causing the Mediwitch to sigh.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but she is asleep right now. She spent the whole night with you," she said softly, gently bathing his flushed face with a cold cloth. "Try to sleep for a while. You'll feel better then."

"Okay," Severus mumbled in disappointment and turned back towards the wall, resolving to not fall asleep before he had the chance to speak with Theresa.

HP

It was late in the evening when Minerva came into his room while Poppy was checking on him. "Is Severus all right?" he heard Minerva ask. "He seemed very apathetic during the whole day, and his condition doesn't seem to improve at all."

"Yes, his condition seems to be worsening in spite of the bed rest and the potions," Poppy replied in apparent concern. "He seems to be brooding about something. He refused to eat anything, so I had to give him nutrient potions, and I assume that he hasn't slept at all during the day. Therefore, I'm going to give him a sleeping draught. I just want to wait for a few minutes to confirm that the potions work properly."

Severus felt himself slowly getting drowsy, realising that the Mediwitch must have spelled a sleeping potion into his system. "I'm also worried about Granny," he faintly heard Poppy's voice, before it faded away and he drifted off to a much needed Healing sleep.

HP

Severus woke up to a cold hand gently caressing his cheeks. He lazily opened his eyes, realising that he felt much better than before.

"Hello sweetie, did you have a nice, long sleep?" Minerva asked gently.

"Yeah," Severus replied as his worries of the day before popped back into his mind. "Theresa?" he queried.

"I haven't seen her today. As far as I know Poppy is looking after you at the moment," Minerva said softly, before she asked, "Are you feeling well enough to come to the living room for some soup? The Headmaster has excused me from lunch in the Great Hall."

"No," Severus mumbled, feeling too disappointed not to be able to finally apologize to Theresa. '_She must be really angry, if she lets Poppy look after me. She knows how much I adore her_.'

"Very well then, let's have lunch here," Minerva replied firmly. "You need to eat something."

"All right then, we can eat in the living room," Severus croaked, suddenly feeling bad for Minerva, who was missing lunch in the Great Hall just for his sake.

Lunch was a fairly quiet affair. Severus managed to eat half a bowl of soup, before he laid his spoon down and asked, "Minerva, may Lily come and visit?"

Minerva sighed. "Well, actually, you're still grounded," she began, but seeing Severus' expression darken and the flushed spots on his cheeks intensify, she added, "Don't make yourself so upset, sweetie; I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," Severus replied in relief and slowly walked back to his room as his guardian hurried to her first afternoon class. In front of the door to his room, Severus hovered for a moment, pondering if he should go to the hospital wing to see if Theresa was around, but he quickly dismissed the thought and climbed into bed, when he saw Poppy enter their quarters.

"What were you doing out of bed?" the Mediwitch asked sternly, and Severus explained quietly that Minerva had suggested to have lunch in the living room. "All right then; other than that you will remain in bed and try to rest. Your condition improved greatly since you slept for a few hours, but you still need at least two more days of bed rest."

"Okay," Severus replied sadly. '_So I'm already missing classes again_,' he mused in annoyance.

"Do you think you can sleep on your own, or do I have to give you another sleeping draught?"

"No, no sleeping potion, please," Severus replied, panicking as he remembered that Minerva had promised to let him see Lily later on. "Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey, but I'd like to apologize to Theresa," he whispered, throwing the Mediwitch a pleading look.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment. My grandmother is very ill," Poppy replied softly, gently adjusting a cool cloth to the boy's forehead as she noticed his terrified expression.

Instants later, Severus began to feel drowsy, realising that the Mediwitch must have spelled another sleeping potion into his stomach. Pondering what she had told him about Theresa, he fell into an uneasy sleep, disturbed by fever induced nightmares.

_Severus was standing in front of the charmed window in his room, observing Theresa and Poppy walk over the Hogwarts grounds. 'I wonder where they are going,' he mused, when suddenly a herd of thestrals came out of the forest and grabbed Theresa, taking her with them into the forest. "Poppy, wave your wand and stop the thestrals," Severus shouted out of the window; however, Poppy calmly returned to the castle. 'I need to rescue Theresa,' he realised and jumped, not considering that his room was situated high in the Gryffindor tower as he fell deeper and deeper and began to scream._

"Severus, what's wrong?" Minerva's voice suddenly penetrated his ears, and he felt his guardian shake his shoulder.

"It's Theresa," he croaked, trying to get out of his bed, but felt himself being restrained by the older witch. "The thestrals; they took her into the forest, but I can't have her die. I must go and rescue her."

"Shh, it's all right, Severus. That was a nightmare, sweetie, and Theresa is sound and safe in her own bed. I'm sure about that," Minerva said soothingly, throwing her adoptive son a concerned look, just when Poppy hurried into the room.

"What happened?" Poppy queried, waving her wand over Severus to spell a calming draught into his system as Minerva quickly filled her in. "Severus, you're delirious. Everything is all right. Granny is fast asleep in our quarters. I was just checking on her, when a Charm I had placed on you alerted me that you were in distress." She quietly cast a few diagnostic spells, before she turned to Minerva.

"Minnie, he'll be all right. Go back to bed and sleep. I'll take care of him."

"Are you sure?" Throwing her best friend a doubtful look, Minerva stood up from the edge of Severus' bed. "Try to go back to sleep, and sleep well, sweetie; everything is fine," she said softly, placing a kiss on his hot forehead, before she quietly left the room, noticing that Poppy took the spot she had occupied earlier.

"Severus, is something bothering you?" Poppy asked softly, causing the boy to turn his glassy, dark eyes to the Mediwitch.

"I need to apologize to your grandmother," he replied urgently. "What's wrong with her?"

Poppy glanced at the boy in concern, pondering what to do. "She had a bad migraine attack, probably caused by stress and the lack of sleep."

"Oh no! Don't tell me it's because she spent the nights looking after me when I was sick," Severus said, horrified. "And then I made her so angry. I'm so sorry, I didn't want that..." He slowly trailed off and turned to the wall, realising he wasn't able to hold the tears back anymore.

"Severus, that's not true. It's not your fault Granny is sick," Poppy said softly, noticing in concern that he was shivering violently as he continued to sob how sorry he was in spite of the calming draught she had given him earlier.

Severus just couldn't believe was Poppy told him. He knew that it was his fault. Theresa had spent the whole holidays with them, because he had asked her to stay overnight. '_Otherwise, she would have taken turns with Poppy and would be fine now_,' he thought, '_and then I spent the day outside, and she had to look after me the whole night again_.'

"Severus, you mustn't make yourself so upset, you'll only aggravate your condition. Everything is all right, and you're a very good boy; you didn't do anything wrong," a soft voice penetrated his ears, causing him to finally calm down. Only as he drifted off into an exhausted sleep, the question, '_Was that Poppy's voice?_' penetrated his feverish mind.

_tbc..._


	14. 14

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Theresa gently wiped his flushed face with a cool cloth. "I'm sorry, sweetie, that I wasn't here when you needed me. But I'm already much better, and I promise we'll have a nice, long chat tomorrow," she said gently, uncertain if the boy was still awake enough to hear her.

By the time Severus woke up, he was alone in his room, and he felt much better. '_Was Theresa really here and said everything was all right?_' he mused, hoping so very much that it hadn't been another dream.

Before he could begin to panic again, the old Mediwitch entered his room, taking a seat at the side of his bed. "Hi sweetie," she said softly, gently taking his hand in her own, cool hand. "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm sorry," Severus blurted out, anxiously glancing up into Theresa's face.

"What are you sorry for, my boy?" Theresa asked softly.

"For disobeying," Severus muttered, anxiously averting his eyes to the floor.

"Well, yes, that was very bold of you; however, I don't think it warrants for brooding over this for days, aggravating your condition and suffering from nightmares. The only important thing is that you get well soon, isn't it?"

"Are you all right?" Relief and concern were openly displayed in Severus' face as he viewed the Healer. "Poppy said..."

"I'll be fine," Theresa interrupted him softly, "nothing to worry about. Now try to sleep for a bit more, and I'm going to make Poppy cook soup for us for lunch, shall I?"

"Oh yes, Poppy's soup would be nice," Severus replied, noticing for the first time in days that he was famished.

HP

During the following two weeks, Severus was grounded; however, considering the fact that he had missed classes again and needed to catch up in spite of his health condition that still wasn't completely back to normal, Minerva spoke with Theresa about the punishment.

"Theresa, I know that we have to pull through with the grounding and his early bedtime, but do you think you could allow Lily to spend the time with him, so they could study together in order to not add more stress than he is already under?"

"Yes, of course," Theresa agreed immediately. "I feel very bad for him, especially since my absence made him worry so much the other day. He has to learn that he must obey, not only to you, but also to Poppy and me, but, well," she sighed, "let Lily join him. I'm glad he has such a good friend, and he needs the girl."

"Yes, I think so. Severus is not one to make friends easily," Minerva said thoughtfully. "I'll go and speak with Lily."

Lily and Severus were both very happy to be allowed to study together. However, Lily's Gryffindor classmates around James Potter and his friends didn't take her absence from the common room every evening well. They tried to cast stumbling spells at Severus whenever they saw him in the halls, much to the Slytherin's annoyance.

HP

On a Monday morning at the end of January, Severus' sleepy mind slowly turned to awareness to the repeated meowing sound of a cat coming from his night table. "Oh shut up, you imbecile," he mumbled in annoyance, unconsciously giving the bothersome animal a slap on the grey head, causing it to quieten instantly.

'_What the..._' Severus thought, rubbing his eyes to get a good look at the annoying thing on the table. '_An alarm clock in form of a cat? Am I delirious?_' he mused, eyeing the thing in disbelief. It was a tabby cat like Minerva's Animagus form; however, the face showed numbers like a normal clock, and Severus was sure he had faintly registered that the tail had been moving during the cat's meowing earlier.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. It's time to get up," Minerva's voice suddenly penetrated his ears.

"Morning," Severus replied, still feeling very tired.

"We're going to have breakfast in the living room today. Please get ready," Minerva continued, sounding much too awake for Severus' liking.

'_Ah, I shouldn't have spent half the night reading_,' he groaned inwardly. The day before, a Sunday, Minerva, Lily and Severus had spent the afternoon at Prince Manor, mainly exploring the library, and Severus had returned to Hogwarts with a huge pile of Potions books. Of course he had faintly tried to sleep after Minerva had turned off the lights and wished him a good night; however, he was much too excited to sleep at the thought of his new books, and as soon as his guardian had retired to bed, he had cast a Lumos charm and spent a few hours reading.

'_I'll try the potion out tonight_,' he mused on his way to the bathroom, deep in thoughts about an article he had read earlier, '_I just hope Poppy and Theresa will let me use their lab again. They really should; I haven't had any health problems for more than two weeks now_.'

Severus was still so engrossed in his thoughts that he neither noticed the decorations framing the living room, nor Minerva's, Theresa's and Lily's chuckles and giggles when he returned after his shower. '_Did she say we'd have breakfast in the living room_?' he suddenly remembered in surprise. '_It's Monday, and Minerva always has to eat in the Great Hall, doesn't she? Maybe she saw the light in my room during the night, and I'm in for a scoldi_ng,' he suddenly realised and apprehensively made his way back to the living room.

As soon as he appeared, Minerva, Theresa and Lily began to sing, causing Severus to stop dead in his tracks. "Birthday?" he queried in surprise. "Oh right; I completely forgot about that over the Potions books. Oh, by the way, Theresa, may I use your Potions lab tonight? I found something interesting, and I'd love to try out a new potion. I have a few ideas..."

He slowly trailed off as Theresa began to laugh, while Minerva and Lily exchanged disbelieving looks. "Err... Did I say anything strange?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow at Theresa.

"No sweetie, not at all," the Mediwitch replied gently. "We're just surprised at your choice of activity for spending your twelfth birthday. Now, shall we have breakfast?"

As Severus turned to the table, his eyes fell on an enormous cake in form of a cauldron that was filled with a pink potion, laced with strawberries.

"Margaret and Malcolm have overdone themselves with that cake. I believe we have to invite the whole Hogwarts staff tonight to get rid of it," Minerva chuckled as the twelve candles lit themselves.

Severus thoughtfully blew them off and placed a piece of cake on each plate. "Yoghurt cake with strawberries," he mumbled. "Normally, I'm not so fond of cake, but this is delicious! May I call Margaret and Malcolm to thank them, or do you think they'll be too busy right now?" He uncertainly glanced at Minerva.

"Of course you may call them and thank them. They'll be glad you liked their cake," Minerva replied, smiling.

"In case you need me to help with the cake tonight, it'll probably take me about two hours to brew my potion," Severus spoke up after thanking the excited elves profusely. "Lily, would you like to assist? It only involves harmless ingredients."

"Of course I'd love to assist, with the brewing as well as with eating this marvellous cake," Lily replied eagerly, not realising that even harmless ingredients could cause dangerous harm if handled improperly.

"If you want to look at your presents before class, you have to hurry and finish your cake, Severus," Minerva said gently, glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece.

"Um... Does the noisy cat device on my night table by chance have anything to do with my birthday?" Severus queried as he suddenly remembered what had interrupted his much needed sleep that morning, quirking an eyebrow as he looked at his guardian.

Minerva chuckled. "That's from Poppy, and we couldn't resist using it to surprise you this morning. Don't you like it?"

Severus grumbled something not understandable. The others could only catch fragments sounding like 'annoying busybody device,' causing them to chuckle. He pushed his plate away, unable to finish the too large piece of cake.

"Here, Sev," Lily said, handing him a small present. "I bought that when I was at home at the end of the holidays, but I know it works here at Hogwarts, because I have the same."

Severus curiously unwrapped the present that held a small green walkman. "Thank you, Lily; um..."

Lily laughed. "It's a walkman. You can listen to the music that's on it. Unfortunately, we only have a few cassettes here that you can use. I have more at home. This is my favourite piece of classical music, Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concert."

"Cool! Err... May I use it in History of Magic?" Severus chuckled, smirking at Minerva.

"Don't you dare," his guardian replied sternly.

"Remember, Severus, if you do something stupid in class, you will be punished twice, once by your Head of House and once by your guardian," Theresa threw in, smiling. "That's the disadvantage of having a parent at the school."

'_They first have to catch me_,' Severus thought as he turned to the present the Mediwitch handed him.

Too soon, it was time to head for class. Fortunately, Transfiguration was the first thing in the morning, so they didn't have to walk far. Severus dragged himself during his classes, regretting badly that he had spent most part of the night reading. However, during the last afternoon class, History of Magic, Severus couldn't keep his eyes open and was startled when Lily shook his shoulder waking him up at the end of the class.

"Is it already time to get up?" he asked sleepily, causing Lily to laugh.

"Well, History of Magic is over. I think you should at least move to your own bed."

"Oh no," Severus groaned as he took in his surroundings. "Do you think we have time to go for a walk before we do our homework?"

"I think so. We only have to do Transfiguration for tomorrow. If we want to spend the evening brewing, we need to write the essay before dinner though."

They decided to do their homework first and had still enough time for a walk around the lake before dinner.

"Sev, what's wrong with you today?" Lily asked in concern. "Are you feeling well?"

"Yes," Severus replied, sighing. "I'm only tired. Do you remember the book I brought with me yesterday about the interaction potions for the Muggle and the magical world?"

"Oh right, that sounded interesting," Lily remembered. "What exactly do you want to brew tonight?"

Before Severus could reply, a group of older Slytherin boys caught up with them. "Oh, if it isn't the Half-Blood together with the Mudblood," one of them spat, throwing them a menacing glare.

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy," Severus said quietly, took Lily by the hand and dragged her back straight to the castle.

"What is their problem?" Lily asked, listening intensely as Severus explained about the Pureblood philosophy many of his Housemates believed in.

"Such a crap," he finished his explanation. "However, I think their main problem is that my guardian is the Head of Gryffindor and I'm staying in her quarters in spite of being a Slytherin. Well, I can live with that."

"I'm glad you're living in Minerva's quarters," Lily said softly. "In Slytherin, I wouldn't be able to visit you at all."

"That's true." Severus sighed as he eyed the doors to the Great Hall through which a mass of students was just heading for dinner. "I think I'll go back to my room for a short nap. Can you come and wake me up after dinner?"

"No, I'm coming with you, so I can at least make sure you'll eat something," Lily replied firmly, dragging him towards the staircase.

When they entered the living room of their quarters, Severus noticed in surprise that a bowl of soup was sitting next to the cake on the table. A small piece of parchment was placed beside it that read, '_Happy Birthday, Severus! Enjoy your dinner with Lily and eat as much as you can. I made the soup just for you! Poppy_.'

As Severus threw Lily a disbelieving look, she couldn't help laughing. "Thank you, Sev, for having the idea to come here, so I didn't even have to convince you. Now, let's eat. I know you like that soup."

Completely forgetting about the nap he had intended to take, Severus tucked in, devouring three helpings of the delicious soup, before he pushed his plate away, feeling completely full. "That was great," he said contentedly, pointing at the cake. "Would you like some dessert?"

"Only if you eat some as well," Lily replied as she cleaned up the plates and placed the cover back over the remaining soup.

Severus sighed. "I'd prefer to brew the potion first. We can still eat the cake afterwards. If I eat anything else on top of three bowls of soup, I'm going to become too tired to brew."

"Probably," Lily chuckled. "All right then, let's go."

They headed into the Mediwitches' office, where Severus thanked Poppy profusely for making his favourite soup for dinner.

"You're welcome, sweetie," Poppy said gently, chuckling when Lily informed her how much Severus had eaten. "Be careful, please, and give us a shout in case you need us."

"We will," Severus promised and led Lily into the small lab. "What I'm trying to invent," he explained to Lily, "is an immunization potion that'll prevent magical people to get Muggle illnesses. We'll make three slightly different versions, so I hope one of them will work. Can you prepare these ingredients?" He instructed her how to prepare the ingredients that he would need.

"Of course," Lily replied eagerly and set to work, while Severus prepared the three cauldrons and began with the brewing.

'_I need to determine how magic I have to put into the potion_,' Severus mused, yawning, as he absently stirred the potions. '_It probably depends on the amount of magic how long the potion is going to last, provided it works at all. Perhaps I should try to invent an anti-sleep potion the next time. It should be close to the Pepperup potion, but without the Healing effect_.'

An instant later, Lily let out a small scream. "Severus, the potions!"

Finally brought out of his reverie, Severus could only push Lily to the floor, throwing himself on top of her to save her from the exploding potion that covered his body seconds later.

_tbc..._


	15. 15

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 15**

"Sev!" Lily shouted, terrified. "Are you all right?"

Before Severus could try to open his mouth and formulate a reply through the pain that had overwhelmed his body the instant the potion had touched his skin, Theresa and Poppy were standing in the doorframe, looking at the scene in exasperation.

"Severus, don't move," Poppy said firmly as she raised her wand to cast the Evanesco spell at the remaining potions, before she levitated Severus off Lily and out of the small lab.

"Here, place him on the sofa," Theresa instructed her, eyeing Severus in concern. "No, sweetie, don't close your eyes. Stay with us for a moment, so you can tell us what was in the potion," she said urgently, realising that his eyes were on the verge of shutting while his face was scrunched in pain.

"Lily knows," Severus mumbled tiredly as he curled up into a foetal position and drifted off to sleep.

Theresa threw Lily a questioning glance, noticing that the girl seemed to be too shocked to think clearly. She motioned her to sit at Poppy's desk and placed a hot mug of tea, laced with a small sip of a calming draught, in front of her. "Drink," she said softly, and somehow, her voice caused Lily to obey automatically.

"Is Sev all right?" she whispered as she emptied the mug, turning her eyes to her best friend's sleeping form.

"Poppy is just checking on him," Theresa said soothingly, "and I'd like to quickly check on you. Are you sure that you weren't hit by the potion?"

"I don't know, but I don't think so. I only feel a bit drowsy and my head hurts a bit, but it's not bad."

"I'll give you something for the headache as soon as we know what the potion was, and I want to check on you again later on," Theresa replied, putting her wand away. "If you were only hit by a small amount of the liquid, the effects wouldn't be as obvious as in Severus' case."

"Exactly, we need to know precisely what the potion was, Lily," Poppy, who just finished casting a whole lot of diagnostic spells on Severus, said in a very stern voice. "My spells only show a bad headache and a dangerously high fever, for which I can't find a reason."

Like in a trance, Lily explained what Severus had told her earlier. "I don't know what the ingredients are, though. I merely cut and chopped what he laid in front of me," she said, beginning to sob in spite of the calming draught.

The two Mediwitches let out a simultaneous sigh. "So he probably harmed his immune system that has been weak in the first place," Theresa said in exasperation. "Did he have a recipe at least? We need to know the exact ingredients."

"No; he always knows his recipes by heart," Lily replied anxiously, suddenly remembering what Severus had told her about reading a certain book during the night. "I know what gave him the idea though, or at least I know in which book he found something about it."

"What is it?" Poppy asked impatiently, darting out of the room to fetch the book from Severus' room, while Theresa instructed Lily to stay put.

When the Healers engrossed themselves in Severus' book, Lily sat on the edge of the sofa and began to gently bathe his hot face. "I'm so sorry, Sev; I shouldn't have allowed you to brew. You were too tired," she whispered into his ear. "Please be all right, Sev. I want you to be at my side forever, just like in my dreams of the future." After a while, she tiredly lay down next to her friend, drifting off to sleep with a smile on her face as he automatically pulled her close like he had always done when they had been suffering from the Squid's flu.

Frantically searching through the book, Theresa and Poppy completely forgot about Lily and were only reminded of her presence when Severus fought a fight against what in his delirious state seemed to be a wild animal, causing Lily to fall on the floor with a small thud that made the Mediwitches turn around in the blink of an eye. An instant later, Minerva stepped through the door to enquire about the whereabouts of her son and his friend.

"I'm sorry, Minnie," Poppy sighed and hurriedly explained what had happened, while Theresa helped a sleep-stricken Lily up from the floor and tried to calm the two students. "We're not sure about the ingredients. However, we are afraid that this incident might have long lasting effects on Severus' body."

"Depending on how his magic reacts to the lingering effects of the half-finished potion, he might come down with Muggle diseases at any time, even without having directly been exposed to them," Poppy continued. "At least that's what Granny and I believe can happen in the worst case. However, we'll make Severus do some research on the matter as well as soon as he is over the immediate effects of the potion. Let's see if his findings will differ."

"Perhaps he can manage to brew the potion at another time. It should help cancel the effects of today's potion, shouldn't it?" Minerva queried, throwing her friend a hopeful glance.

"That could be, and I'd brew the potion for him if he could tell me the exact ingredients; however, according to Lily, this was still an experiment, and frankly speaking I'm not willing to allow him to experiment so soon again," Theresa threw in, stepping next to her granddaughter. "Lily also told me that the incident happened because Severus was sleep deprived. He spent most part of the night studying a potions book."

Noticing the concern and exasperation in Minerva's face, Poppy said calmingly, "He'll be all right, Minnie. At least it's not life threatening. I will now levitate Severus to his own bed, and I suggest you allow Lily to stay in your guest room. Otherwise I'm going to keep her here. It was a shock for her, and the calming draught Granny gave her didn't help much. We're not exactly sure if small parts of the potion possibly hit her and want to check on her later on. She has a headache, and her temperature is slightly elevated."

"All right," Minerva agreed. "Is there anything I can do for Severus and Lily?"

"No," Theresa replied softly, gently patting Minerva's shoulder. "Poppy and I will take turns checking on them during the night."

Minerva nodded her understanding and walked over to Lily, who was sitting at Poppy's desk, her head buried in her arms, which she had popped up on the table. "Lily?" she asked softly, causing the girl to lightly turn her head and open her eyes just a little bit.

"I'm sorry," Lily mumbled, glancing up at her Head of House. "I knew he was tired. I should have kept him from brewing."

"It's not your fault," Minerva replied, soothingly brushing some strands of hair out of Lily's face. "You wouldn't have been able to keep him from brewing," Minerva sighed. "Severus is very stubborn and irresponsible concerning his own health. If you had tried to keep him from trying the potion tonight, he'd have done it during the night, all on his own, which would have been much worse. Now, are you feeling well enough to walk to my guest room, or shall I levitate you?"

"Can I stay with Severus? Please?"

"Madam Pomfrey just took him to his own bed, and you can either stay in the hospital wing or in my guest room for the night."

"I can walk," Lily replied, leaning onto the professor's arm as they slowly crossed the hospital wing, unaware of the concerned looks her Head of House was shooting her.

HP

When Severus woke up, he could hear the birds sing through the open window, and it was already light outside. '_What happened_?' he mused, realising that he felt feverish and had a splitting headache. '_The potion_!' Suddenly, realisation set in, causing him to groan in annoyance as he remembered the events of the evening. '_The potion must have hit me_,' he thought, recalling that he had faintly noticed Theresa's, Poppy's and Lily's concerned faces. _'I just hope Lily wasn't hit_,' he thought urgently, just when Theresa bustled into the room.

"You gave us quite a fright, young man," she said softly, sitting on the side of his bed.

"I'm sorry. Is Lily all right?"

"She has the same symptoms as you, but in a much lighter form," Theresa said soothingly, sighing as she laid her cold hand on his forehead. "Severus, can you remember exactly what happened? We couldn't give you anything for your ailments, because we didn't know what kind of potion you were exposed to."

Severus remained pensive for a while, before he asked, "Please, can I have a headache potion and a fever reducer first? There is nothing in them that can interact. I don't feel good."

Theresa threw Severus a sharp look. "Severus, I don't feel well at the thought of giving you potions in spite of not knowing what exactly caused your problems. Are you sure that the potions can't interact?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Yes. The potion consisted of harmless ingredients. They only had this negative effect, because I still hadn't added willow and meadowsweet to finish the potion, that's all. I was thinking about how much magic I needed to use for the potion and lost track of time, so one of the potions exploded."

Sensing that the boy knew what he was talking about, Theresa grudgingly spelled the requested potions into his system, before she excused herself for a moment to give Lily the same potions. By the time she returned to Severus' room, he was sitting in his bed, feverishly scribbling something on a parchment.

"Here. This is the recipe along with the brewing instructions. I have been testing three similar potions; they only differ in the amount of stirs and the stirring direction. The ingredients are the same. The one that exploded is the second one on the list, but it doesn't have to do with the potion itself. It was only my fault because of the timing."

"Thank you, Severus," Theresa said, sighing in relief as she skimmed the recipe. She and Severus spent a while discussing the possible consequences of the previous evening's incident, but the boy didn't know more than her and Poppy. He would probably be more susceptive towards Muggle illnesses.

HP

During the next weeks, neither Severus nor Lily came down with any Muggle diseases, and the incident already began to sink into oblivion when they both became sick with chicken pox. After a few days, Lily and Severus were both feeling better, except for the unnerving rash, and Poppy and Theresa allowed them to spend the days together in Severus' room.

"When can we go back to classes?" Severus asked one day.

"In about two weeks' time," Theresa replied gently, causing him to throw her a horrified look. "Don't you have enough schoolwork to do to occupy yourselves for a few days, hmm?"

Severus groaned. Of course, Minerva had brought them notes from Lily's friend Alice and assignments from the teachers, but nevertheless, attending classes was more interesting than to be confined to their quarters. '_Well, at least I'm together with Lily_,' he consoled himself.

"I know what we're going to do," he said one evening, closing his Defence book with a thud. "Let's practise the Animagus transformation."

"Oh Severus, that's a brilliant idea!" Lily agreed, uncomfortably scratching her left foot.

"Don't scratch," Severus admonished her lightly, gently taking her smaller hand into his own slender one.

"I know," Lily sighed, "but this is so annoying."

Severus suddenly began to chuckle. "Maybe it'll make you feel better if I told you what I overheard when I snuck through the hospital wing into the Potions classroom last night. I..."

"You WHAT?" Lily blurted out in exasperation. "What if they caught you? You'd be grounded until Christmas. And what were you doing in the Potions classroom anyway? Was that why you slept so long this morning? Theresa was very worried about you."

Severus sighed at her tirade. "I wanted to finally make the potion, which I was trying out when we had the accident."

Lily's expression turned into one of excitement. "And? Did it work?"

"Oh Lily," Severus sighed again. "How can I know that? I can only try it out when I'm back to health, and even then I won't know immediately if it worked. But what I heard last night..."

"Wait!" Lily interrupted him again, throwing him an exasperated look. "You can't just try it out on yourself. What if you do further harm to your immune system?"

"I'll think about it," Severus replied calmingly, feeling too tired and sick to discuss the matter. "Potter, Black and Pettigrew apparently caught the chicken pox as well, because they didn't attend the dinner at which they gave the immunisation potion to everyone. If I understood correctly, the Pomfreys sent them home to the Potters, because they'll be ill until the beginning of the summer holidays anyway."

"Really?" Lily laughed. "Well, so much about doing nothing but nonsense instead of attending meals in the Great Hall. Only a few weeks ago, they were boasting in the common room how they found the kitchens and went to get something to eat in the middle of the night."

Severus smirked. "Does the thought make you feel better?"

"It does," Lily grinned, absently scratching her ear. "On the other hand," she began thoughtfully, "do we only have three weeks until the summer holidays? That means we're going to be released right in time for the test week."

"Yep."

"Sev, we need to study," Lily said, opening her Transfiguration book in determination.

"I know," Severus agreed, and the two first-years spent the following week studying for the end of year tests.

"I think we know everything we'll need for the tests," Lily said a week later. "Shall we practise to turn our left hands into cat paws again?"

HP

Lily and Severus were both allowed back to school right in time for the test week. On Sunday evening, Minerva entered Severus' room, where the two first years were feverishly studying. A small smile appeared on her face at the sight of the two friends, before she noticed Severus' panicked expression.

"You'll do fine on the tests, both of you. You've studied enough during the last two weeks, and all of your teachers know that you were ill and have missed many weeks of classes. They won't go too hard on you. There is no need to worry."

"Are you sure?" Severus asked sceptically.

"We only studied the theory, but we didn't practise any spells or brewing for weeks, except for Transfiguration," Lily added, throwing her Head of House a questioning look.

"If you fail one of the practical tests, I'll speak to your teacher and convince them to let you do the test again during the holidays. Is that a deal?" Minerva asked, smiling.

"Yes." Lily and Severus let out simultaneous sighs of relief.

"Thank you, Minerva," Severus said gratefully. '_Thank God she made us practise Transfiguration during the last few days; at least we probably won't fail that_,' he mused as he turned back to his book.

HP

On Monday, they had their theoretical and practical test in Transfiguration, which was no problem for Lily and Severus, nor was the theoretical Potions test on Tuesday. When they sat down in the Potions classroom for their practical test, Remus Lupin took the seat next to Lily. Severus sighed in relief as he saw the name of the potion Professor Slughorn made appear at the board. '_Thank Merlin, Lily should be able to brew that_,' he mused as he began to gather his ingredients.

Unfortunately, half through the brewing process, one of the Slytherins sitting at the other side of the aisle threw something in their direction, targeting Remus' cauldron. However, the object missed its target and fell straight into Severus' cauldron.

"Taylor, what are you doing?" Lily hissed angrily, glaring daggers at the Slytherin.

"I'm sorry, Snape, that was supposed to hit Lupin's cauldron for what his friends did to me at our last test," the boy explained while he continued with his own potion.

"Then you should practise aiming beforehand the next time," Severus growled as he watched his potion bubble dangerously.

"Sev, you need to do something," Lily said urgently, "before it's going to explode all over you. Or just tell me the spell; I'll do it," she added, seeing that Severus was too shocked to take action.

"Evanesco," Severus hissed, banishing the angry potion from his cauldron, before he dashed out of the room, noticing that hot tears began to cloud his eyes.

_tbc..._


	16. 16

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 16**

"Severus, wait!" Lily shouted in concern and abandoned her potion to run after her friend.

'_It's my fault; he wanted to harm me_,' Remus thought and hurried after his two classmates.

Together, Lily and Remus ran towards the entrance doors, glancing out into the pouring rain. "Do you think he went outside?" Remus queried, causing Lily to sigh.

"I hope not, although heading outside when it rains cats and dogs is something Severus would do in order to hide from the world."

"Well, then you wait here and I go and have a look," Remus said firmly and headed out in the rain.

"No Remus, I'm coming with you," Lily replied in determination and accompanied her housemate.

The weather was absolutely disgusting; it wasn't only that it was raining, but a cold wind was blowing dark clouds over the sky in a high speed, and the rain was coming from all sides. '_If I only knew a Charm to keep us dry and warm_,' Lily mused as they ran around the lake, searching for Severus. '_I wonder if we'll be allowed to re-do the test. It wasn't entirely our fault that we failed it_.'

"Do you think he would run into the Forbidden Forest?" Remus queried, trying to catch his breath as they were back to the entrance doors.

'_I don't think so_,' Lily thought, suddenly feeling very grateful for Remus' company. "No, but let's look behind Hagrid's hut. Who knows... Thank you for helping me search, Remus."

Severus wasn't behind Hagrid's hut either, and the two first years remained under the roof that shielded them from the rain and the cold wind for a moment to ponder the situation.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

After Severus had left the classroom, he ran up to the entrance hall without even thinking where he was going. However, seeing the weather outside, he decided not to seek hide at his favourite spot near the lake. '_I only just recovered from an illness; I wouldn't want to spend the rest of the week in bed with a cold_,' he mused as he returned to his own room, throwing himself onto his bed, where he began to cry in desperation.

"My absolute favourite subject and I failed the end of first year test," he sobbed to himself until his sobs turned into light coughs that made him stop crying as he began to panic about getting sick again. Knowing that it was easier to breathe in an upright position, he got up from his bed and proceeded to stand in front of the window, looking out into the storm.

Suddenly, he saw two small figures run around in the heavy rain. '_Is that Lily_?' he thought horrified as he recognised her red hair. '_And who is with her? Lupin? What are they doing in outside in such a storm?_' he wondered when realisation set in. '_They are looking for me!_'

Horrified, Severus ran out of his room and sprinted in the direction where he had seen his classmates. The wind blew in his face, and the rain was so heavy that he was drenched within seconds. '_So much about not wanting to get sick again_,' he thought as he frantically searched for the two first years that seemed to be swallowed up by the earth.

Severus only found Lily and Remus when they left their safe spot behind Hagrid's hut and began to run towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Ah, Severus, thank God we found you," Lily sighed in relief, pulling her friend with her towards the castle.

The three first years stumbled into the castle, shaking the rain off like wet dogs, until a strict voice began to shriek, "Don't make such a mess! You'll clean up here immediately. Don't you dare using magic!" Mr. Filch was standing there, swinging a mop at them, shouting.

Seeing that Lily was shivering violently from being wet and cold, Severus turned to the caretaker. "Mr. Filch, I will come and clean up after we go to Madam Pomfrey to receive a drying spell and a Pepperup potion. We don't want to miss our end of the year tests because of cleaning up here with Muggle means." With that he ushered Lily and Remus towards the grand staircase that led to the hospital wing.

"You will do as I say," Filch said in a menacing voice, raising his finger to threaten Severus.

"As soon as we're back," Severus gave back and turned around, striding ahead with billowing robes.

The three children ran towards the hospital wing, sighing in relief as they shut the door behind them, trying to catch their breaths.

"What happened?" Theresa queried upon their sight, immediately beginning to cast drying and warming spells at the three students.

"Oh, thank God," Lily sighed in relief as they felt the warmth spread around their bodies. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey; that feels much better."

Severus quickly filled the Mediwitch in on what had happened earlier in the Potions classroom, causing the old witch to sigh. "So you managed to fail your Potions test because of a prank someone played on you. Miss Evans and Mr. Lupin, twenty points each to Gryffindor for your efforts to go and search Severus in spite of the test you were supposed to take."

To the children's chagrin, they missed their Charms tests as well, since all three of them caught a light cold in spite of the Pepperup potion Theresa made them drink, and the Mediwitches kept them in the hospital wing for a day.

"Don't worry; you'll be able to take your practical and theoretical Charms test as well as the practical part of your Potions test during the first week of the holidays," Minerva told them in a soothing voice when she visited the three first years in the evening.

'_So Lupin will come to Hogwarts for his tests_. _I like him; he seems really nice in spite of being friends with Black and Potter. Maybe we can get to know each other a bit better. It would be nice to have a friend beside Lily_,' Severus mused as he waited for Theresa to release them for their last day of the end of year tests, unaware of how well they would get to know Remus during the next week.

Poppy and Theresa finally decided to only release the students for the Leaving Feast, claiming they should properly recover before they had to write their tests.

'_Oh well, that gives me a bit more time to study for the History of Magic test_,' Severus mused, feeling slightly relieved at the thought, especially as he realised that Lily had to stay at Hogwarts for three days in order to take all of their tests in the following week.

"Minerva, where is Remus going to stay?" he queried on Sunday evening, knowing that not only Lily but also Remus was supposed to return to Hogwarts by a Portkey that was going to activate at eight o'clock on Monday morning.

"We'll see," Minerva replied thoughtfully, glancing at her watch. "Severus, I have something to discuss with you. Last week, Mr. Filch complained vehemently about your behaviour. He told me that you and two others, I assume he was speaking about Lily and Remus, brought a lot of mud into the entrance hall, and when he instructed you to clean up, you refused in a very rude way."

Severus groaned. "Minerva," he replied, sighing, "that was after I went out into the storm to look for Lily and Remus when they were searching for me. By the time we returned to the castle, we were wet and cold, and I merely told the caretaker that we wanted to go to the hospital wing for a Pepperup potion and would come to clean up right afterwards. It's not my fault that Madam Pomfrey kept us for two days."

Minerva sighed. "All right; in that case your behaviour was absolutely correct, although it would have been good if you had mentioned the matter to me before Mr. Filch cornered me. I'll speak with him."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

At exactly eight o'clock on Monday morning, Lily and Remus arrived in Minerva's office, from where the three students headed to the Charms classroom for their theoretical Charms test.

"It's strange; I somehow feel bad, just as if I had failed the test, although in fact it wasn't our fault, because we were sick on that day," Remus mused aloud while they walked through the deserted halls.

"That's exactly how I feel," Severus agreed, and Lily nodded.

"Well, in fact it was my fault," she said in a small voice, "because I should have made sure Severus didn't return to his own room before heading out into the storm. I'm sorry, Remus, Severus."

"Don't even think that way, Lily," Severus said softly as he opened the door to the classroom.

Both parts of the Charms exam went well, and the three friends had still some time left before dinner. They spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the lake.

"Lily, Remus, where are you going to stay during the night?" Severus asked as they finally walked back to the castle in time for dinner.

"I'm going to stay in Minerva's guest quarters," Lily replied, smiling.

"I'll probably stay with Madam Pomfrey," Remus reluctantly admitted.

"With Madam Pomfrey? Why is that? Can't you stay with us?" Severus enquired in disbelief.

"Yes, Remus, let's ask them if you can stay with us. They could just set up a second bed in Severus' room," Lily agreed, causing Remus' face to take on a deeply flushed colour.

"I'll speak with Madam Pomfrey, but I don't think she'll agree," he said in a small voice, causing Lily and Severus to exchange a concerned glance.

After dinner, Remus headed straight to the hospital wing, and Lily and Severus returned to Severus' and Minerva's quarters, where they spent the evening playing wizard's chess and wondering about Remus and his need to stay with the Mediwitch.

"Lily, Severus, it's already nine o'clock, and you have tests tomorrow. I think you should go to bed," Minerva said, looking up from the third year class parchments she was grading.

The two students grudgingly agreed and packed the chess set away. "Minerva, why can't Remus stay with us?" Lily asked hesitantly, throwing her Head of House a concerned look.

Minerva let out a long sigh, before she finally said, "Lily, I appreciate that you're concerned about Mr. Lupin; however, I can't tell you the reason. Maybe one day he'll tell you by himself."

"All right, good night, Professor," Severus replied and softly pulled Lily with him out of the room.

"What are you doing?" Lily whispered as Severus led her into his own room.

"Shh, I think I know what's wrong with Remus," Severus whispered. "Look," he pointed to the charmed window, "today is the full moon. Perhaps he is a werewolf."

"A werewolf?" Lily's eyes widened in disbelief. "That's someone who turns into a wolf at the full moon, right? You don't think Dumbledore would allow a werewolf to come to Hogwarts, do you?"

"No, probably not," Severus replied, feeling slightly reassured by his friend's reaction. All right then, good night, Lily."

HP

In the morning, Remus didn't show up for their History of Magic test, and Lily and Severus had a hard time pulling their thoughts away from the question of the whereabouts of their friend in order to concentrate on their tests.

"Let's go to the hospital wing and look if Remus is still there," Severus said in determination, dragging Lily with him as soon as the test was over.

Remus was lying in the bed next to Poppy's and Theresa's office. Thankfully, none of the Mediwitches was around, and the two friends approached Remus, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Remus, what's wrong? Why are you here?" Lily queried, taking in her housemate's sickly appearance.

Remus let out a deep sigh. "I'm all right; I just don't feel too well today, but I'll be fine tomorrow. How was the test?"

"Remus, why don't you just tell us the truth?" Severus asked bluntly.

Seeing that Remus threw him a strange look, he elaborated, "If it is what I think, I might be able to help you. I love to research and invent potions, and I can try to invent something, even if I'm sure it'll be difficult."

Remus looked at the Slytherin in disbelief. "You... You wouldn't hate me?"

"Why would we?" Lily enquired, gently squeezing Remus' hand. "You're still our friend, and we can even try to help Severus with his research. Um... although you have to let me in on your secret," she added as an afterthought, throwing the two boys a questioning look.

Remus sighed. "I am a werewolf," he admitted in a small voice. "However, please keep this for yourselves; otherwise, I'll be forced to leave Hogwarts, and I really love being here."

"Don't worry, Remus. We love having you here, too, and we won't tell anyone, right, Severus?"

"Of course," Severus agreed, nodding.

"What are you doing here?" Theresa, who had just returned to the hospital wing, interrupted their conversation, just as huge tears began to run down Remus' cheeks. "What's wrong, Remus?" she asked in concern, looking questioningly at Lily and Severus.

"They found out that I'm a werewolf," Remus pressed out, sobbing, "but they promised they wouldn't hate me and instead try to help me. Never before..."

"It's all right, sweetie; don't cry," Theresa said softly, gently pulling the boy into her arm. "I'm glad you have such good friends."

Lily and Severus stayed with Remus the whole afternoon. Only when the Gryffindor fell into an exhausted sleep, Severus whispered, "Lily, let's go to the library. I want to do some research, and you can help me."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Severus spent most part of the summer holidays researching about werewolves in the libraries of Prince Manor, McGonagall Manor and Hogwarts. Seeing that he hadn't made any friends at Hogwarts, Minerva encouraged him to invite Remus to Prince Manor for a week, and the two boys got along very well. Remus was very grateful hearing that Severus really wanted to help him, although the Slytherin warned him, "Don't get your hopes up, Lupin. It might take years, until I'll be able to help you in any way. As far as I know from what I've read, a lot of Potions Masters already tried to find a cure for werewolves, but so far, no one came up with anything useful."

"I know, Severus," Remus replied, sighing. "Still it's a fantastic feeling knowing that someone is trying to help me."

During the last four weeks before Minerva had to return to Hogwarts, Lily was allowed to stay with Minerva and Severus at McGonagall Manor. "Did you make any progress with your research?" she asked eagerly when they had dinner together on the first evening.

"No," Severus replied, sighing. "Oh well, I gathered a lot of information about werewolves. You can take a look at my notes if you wish."

"Of course I want, and I'm going to help you search the library for more," Lily said, admiring her friend very much for the trouble he was ready to take to help a classmate.

However, fifteen hours later, their hopes of proceeding with their research during the remaining weeks of the holidays was destroyed.

_tbc..._


	17. 17

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 17**

Poppy and Rolanda Hooch came to visit Minerva the following morning to spend a few days at McGonagall Manor with their friend. When Lily and Severus came into the living room to greet the new guests, Poppy looked at Severus, noticing that he was even paler than before the holidays, and forbade Severus to spend any more time in the library. "Instead, you will spend at least five hours out on the grounds each day," she told him in a firm voice.

"Yes," Severus replied in an even voice and left the room without any further word, leaving the four witches to exchange a worried look.

"That didn't go well," Minerva sighed, looking at Lily, who nodded and quickly hurried after Severus.

Severus was in his room, packing.

"Severus, what are you going to do?" Lily asked, terrified at his determined expression.

"I'm going to return to Prince Manor. Are you going to stay here, or will you come with me?"

Lily let out a long sigh. "Severus, please calm down first. Madam Pomfrey was only worried, because, frankly speaking, you don't look good. You're even paler than before the holidays."

"That's probably because I was sick last week. Pomfrey doesn't know because it wasn't so bad that Minerva had to call her. Anyway, I promised Lupin to do this research, and I'm not going to break my promise."

"I'm sure Poppy appreciates what you're doing for Remus very much. She just doesn't want you to overwork yourself. I have an idea though. Why don't we spend the time on the grounds practising the Animagus transformation? I'd love to continue practising."

"That's true," Severus replied thoughtfully, thinking about how much easier it would be to access the library unseen in his Animagus form.

The adults didn't object, and Lily and Severus spent the rest of the morning practising transforming their left hands into paws. However, when Severus wanted to continue after lunch, Minerva said, "No, Severus. You can't practise more than the two hours you already did in the morning. The Animagus transformation is very strenuous."

Seeing Severus roll his eyes, Rolanda quickly suggested, "Why don't we play Quidditch? Lily, Severus and I against Poppy and Minerva."

"Oh, I can't really fly," Lily admitted in a small voice, causing Rolanda to chuckle.

"Then it's the best opportunity to learn."

Lily and Severus grudgingly agreed, but in the end, they had much fun, especially as they began to play Quidditch like Rolanda suggested. Lily and Rolanda played Chasers as well as Keeper at the same time just like Poppy from the other team, while Severus and Minerva were the Seekers. To Severus' surprise, Poppy and Minerva were so good that they were unable to beat them in spite of having one person more on their team.

"Minerva, do you think we could invite Remus for a few days? It would be so much fun to play with two proper teams, and the full moon has just passed, hasn't it?" Severus suggested in the evening.

Everyone agreed, and Minerva stepped to the fireplace to call Remus' parents, who agreed immediately, knowing that Remus loved to be together with Lily and Severus.

'_If anyone told me I'd become addicted to flying last year, I'd have admitted them to St. Mungo's_,' Severus mused as he stole himself out of the house at five o'clock in the morning to fly for a while. '_Unfortunately, it's taking too much time from my potions research and Animagus training_.'

HP

By the time, the teachers had to return to Hogwarts, Rolanda turned to the three students. "All three of you are very good flyers, and you're playing so well that I'd like to suggest all three of you for your House teams. Would you be willing to play for your team?"

"I'd love to play, but I won't be able to take a position since I'm too unreliable because of the full moon," Remus replied sadly.

"No, I don't want to play," Severus replied firmly, causing everyone to throw him astonished looks.

"Why not, Sev? You'd make a brilliant Seeker," Lily asked in surprise.

"I can't play on the team," Severus insisted. "Lily would make a brilliant Quidditch player, and there is no way I'm going to play against her."

'_That's typical for Severus_,' Minerva mused, glancing proudly at her adopted son.

"That's all right, Sev. Even if we play against each other, you'll still be my best friend," Lily said softly. "Let's at least participate in the tryouts."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Until the end of the summer holidays, Lily efficiently managed to convince Severus to at least try out for the team, and both of them were chosen to play in their Quidditch team, Severus as Slytherin's Seeker and Lily as Gryffindor's Chaser. To Severus' chagrin, James Potter and Sirius Black were on the Gryffindor team as well; James as Chaser and Sirius as Beater. '_I just hope they won't take Lily away from me_,' he mused, already regretting that he had agreed to try out at all. '_As much as I like to play Quidditch twice a week, I'd prefer spending the time with Lily_,' he thought.

The first match, Slytherin versus Gryffindor, took place in the second half of November. '_I really don't want to play against Lily; thank Merlin she's at least not playing Seeker_,' Severus mused as he went to bed the evening before the match. However, in the morning, Lily woke up with a bad headache and a sore throat and felt so horrible that she dragged herself to Minerva to ask for a Pepperup potion. Finally, she ended up in Minerva's guest room on absolute bed rest.

"But I have to play Quidditch," she attempted to protest weakly, causing Theresa to roll her eyes. "With the throat infection and the fever you're running, you're going to stay in bed at least over the weekend," she said gently as she waved her wand to exchange Lily's clothes with comfortable pyjamas.

Severus sat on the edge of her bed. "I'm so sorry for you," he said softly.

Lily sighed. "I was so excited about it. I shouldn't have gone to Minerva but waited it out until after the game like Potter and Black told me, but I felt so miserable..." She slowly trailed off.

"Lily, you're in no condition to play Quidditch. I'm sorry, but I have to go and get ready for the match nonetheless."

"Of course, Sev. As disappointed as I am to not be able to play, as glad I am that we don't have to play against each other," Lily replied, noticing that her voice was getting hoarse.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

An hour later, Severus was flying over the Quidditch pitch, frantically searching the Snitch. Snow clouds were hanging low in the sky, and it was nearly impossible to spot the tiny ball, especially when it began to snow shortly after the beginning of the match. Only two and a half hours into the game, he saw the golden ball for the first time and hurried towards the other end of the pitch to get it before the Gryffindor Seeker would realise his move. He was just about to reach out for the Snitch when he heard one of his teammates shout, "Severus, be careful! A Bludger!"

'_Nooo! I want to get out of the snow storm_,' his mind screamed, deciding that it was more important to catch the Snitch and end the game than to listen to the voice. Fortunately, the Bludger missed Severus a hand's length, and Severus sighed in relief as his hands closed around the struggling Snitch. '_Thank God_,' he mused, '_I wouldn't want to finish my first Quidditch match by ending up in the hospital wing. I just hope Minerva won't mind that I managed to win the match for Slytherin_.'

Severus spent a few hours in the Slytherin common room, glad that his house-mates seemed to appreciate his participation in their Quidditch team. '_Maybe it'll help improve my relationship to my housemates a bit_,' he thought, although he felt that he more and more disliked Lucius Malfoy and his gang. '_Even Potter and Black are better than them_,' he thought as he finally excused himself from the party to return to Minerva's and his quarters and keep Lily company.

When he entered Lily's room, the girl sat up in excitement. "Severus, Minerva already told me that you managed to catch the Snitch and win the game for your House. Congratulations!" she commended him hoarsely, throwing Severus a huge smile.

"Thank you, Lily," Severus replied, and a small smile played on his lips. "On one hand, I'm really happy that I managed to catch the Snitch, but on the other hand I feel very sorry that your team lost because of it."

"That's all right, Severus. I don't mind, especially as I couldn't play anyway," Lily croaked, reaching for his cold hand as he sat on the edge of her bed.

The two second years spent the whole afternoon quietly talking together, until Poppy came around dinnertime to check on Lily and vehemently scolded Severus for being together with her without her consent. "Do you want to spend the next few days in bed as well?" she asked sharply, causing Severus to throw her a confused glance.

"I'm sorry, but I thought throat infections weren't contagious," he said hesitantly.

"Every virus infection is contagious," Poppy replied, sighing in exasperation. "Accompany me to my office. I'll give you a potion, and we'll hope that it'll prevent you from getting sick."

Unfortunately, even the preventive potion couldn't stop Severus from coming down with the virus. By the time Lily happily stormed into his room to tell him that she was released from the hospital wing, he already woke up feeling sick. However, deciding to not stay in bed just when Lily was allowed to return to her classes on Tuesday morning, he dragged himself through his classes, trying to hide from his teachers and classmates how bad he felt. Of course this didn't go unnoticed by Lily.

"Severus, why don't you just go to Theresa or Poppy and let them help you. You must feel horrible with the fever you're running," Lily whispered in concern, worriedly feeling his hot hands.

"Because they would put me to bed for a few days. Remember, you had to stay in bed for three days, and I can't do that. I can't miss the potion we're going to brew in Potions on Thursday. If I still feel bad after that class, I'll go to Theresa," Severus promised.

Lily rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Sev, you won't make it so far. First of all, you'll feel too horrible to continue like that, and secondly your voice is going to fail soon, and then everyone will know. Minerva will notice as soon as she sees you anyway."

Severus sighed in desperation. "Lily, do you know a concealment spell? If not, can you come with me to the library and help me search for one?"

Lily let out a long sigh. "I don't think that would be wise, but yes, of course, I'll do what you want me to do. Just tell me, what are we going to learn in Potions on Thursday that is so important that you want to drag yourself through three days of classes in your condition?"

Severus smirked. "It's a very complex potion, and Professor Slughorn is going to make each class brew it at the end of this week. The potion consists of five parts, and it's a potion to determine the level of a brewer. First class students are supposed to manage the first step, second class students the second step and so on. Professor Slughorn told me about it and suggested I should try to finish it completely, which would be the level of a fifth year student. If I managed to brew it flawlessly, he'd be able to assign me fifth class potions in the future."

"That sounds interesting," Lily said in surprise. "I know that it's boring for you to brew our potions; however, will you still be in our class?"

Severus smirked. "Of course, at least until I take my OWLs. The class on Thursday is my only chance and I have to use it, especially as I know that the professor is mainly doing the test because of me. So, will you help me search the library for a spell?"

"Probably it would be a Charm we're searching for, but of course I'll help you, Sev," Lily said softly, worriedly taking in that her friend's eyes were becoming glassy and his cheeks were turning unnaturally red.

The two second years decided to skip History of Magic and immediately settled down in the library, where they feverishly skimmed the Charms shelves. "Here, Sev, I think I found something," Lily finally said thoughtfully. "This book here lists several concealment charms especially to hide illnesses."

Severus leaned over to get a good look at the book. "Oh right, I think those are exactly what I need. Thank you, Lily. Can you help me... No, I better be able to apply them myself."

"That's probably better in case they wear off when you're asleep or something," Lily agreed and cast a Silencing charm around the two of them. "Now you can practise the first spell. You need this one to cover your overall appearance, you need the third one to cover your cracking voice and other sounds like coughs, and you should think of applying the fifth one here. It's supposed to make your skin feel cooler than it actually is, although I'm not sure if I like it. I'd prefer to be able to feel the warmth of your skin."

Severus practised the first charm a few times, before he finally applied it and threw Lily a questioning look.

"Wow," she said in amazement. "You look well rested and healthy. That's brilliant."

"It would be more brilliant if it actually helped. I don't feel so great," Severus mumbled, causing Lily to place a cool hand on his forehead.

"Why don't you just apply the second charm as well, and then we'll return to your room and pretend that we're doing homework. History of Magic is long over anyway. I'll try to get into the hospital wing and nick a few potions for you," Lily promised.

"A fever reducer would be great," Severus replied and flawlessly cast the second charm as well.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Fortunately, Severus' charms worked so well that Minerva didn't notice that her son wasn't his usual self that evening, and Lily managed to get into the hospital wing unseen and brought three phials of fever reducer and three phials for the throat infection back to Severus, who quickly gulped down one of each and hid the remaining phials behind his bookshelf in order to take the next dose right before heading to class in the morning.

Remus was the only one who realised that something was off with his friend and asked in concern, "Severus, are you feeling all right?"

"Why?" Severus asked in shock, wondering if his charms had failed.

"My werewolf instincts make me sense if someone is ill," Remus replied gently, causing Severus to sigh in relief and tell Remus the truth.

'_Thank Merlin tomorrow is Thursday, and Potions is our first morning class_,' he mused. '_I hope I'll manage to brew the fifth year potion, so that I'll be able to brew more difficult potions in class. Second year potions are much too easy and absolutely boring_.'

_tbc..._


	18. 18

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 18**

When Severus dragged himself into the Potions classroom on Thursday morning, he felt absolutely miserable. In spite of looking well rested and healthy due to the charms, his head and his throat were terribly sore, he felt too hot and too cold at the same time, and he was feeling as if he was on a roller coaster. Everything kept turning around. '_Thank Merlin it'll be over in an hour, and then I'll willingly go to the hospital wing_,' he thought as he entered the classroom and slipped into the seat between Lily and Remus, who both shot him sharp looks.

However, when Professor Slughorn arrived, he informed them, "We're going to make a Potions experiment today in order to test on which brewing level you are. Everyone is going to brew the same potion that consists of five steps. You may either brew until the end of the step you feel comfortable with, or you may try to brew as far as you get. In the worst case you'll fail your potion, and the last achieved level will be counted. Since those of you who want to complete the potion, need more than two hours, you won't have any other classes this morning. You have time until lunchtime to finish your potion."

Severus groaned inwardly. 'So much about being back in my bed in a little more than an hour,' he thought as he glanced at the board in expectation. 'I just hope it's something easy.' Two minutes later, he sighed in relief, noticing that it was a potion he had already brewed for the hospital wing in all different steps several times. It was a Healing potion, which was based on a basic Healing potion, to which several special features were added in the following steps. '_Thank God, that won't be a problem_,' he thought, '_if I just didn't feel so dizzy_.'

He managed to get through the first step with ease; however, when he was brewing the second step, he was feeling so dizzy that he could hardly see what he was doing, and during the third step it was even worse.

"Sev, are you doing all right?" Lily asked from his side, noticing that he seemed to be struggling.

"No; I'm so dizzy," he whispered back as he continued to slice the birch bark.

"Sev, I'm going to cancel your concealment charms, and then I'll go and ask Professor Slughorn for a potion for you," Lily whispered. "I'm already finished with my potion." She quickly cancelled the charms, trying hard not to gasp as she took in Severus' white face that was deeply flushed. Dark rings were surrounding his eyes, and he looked absolutely miserable.

Lily quickly walked to the teacher's desk and said quietly, "Professor, I think Severus is sick, but he didn't want to go to the hospital wing this morning in order to attend your class. Could you please give him something for his fever? He is too dizzy to continue brewing, but he doesn't want to stop yet."

Slughorn walked over to the last row, where Severus was trying hard to insert the ingredients inside the cauldron that was constantly moving from one side to the other and back. One look into his student's face sufficed, and the professor hurriedly put the potion under a Stasis charm, before he instructed Severus to lean back and wait for a moment. A short while later, he returned with a fever reducing potion and handed it to Severus, observing as the boy gulped it down and visibly relaxed.

"Thank you so much, Professor," he whispered gratefully as he waved his wand to re-activate his potion and continue brewing, noticing that he felt much cooler, and that the cauldron had stopped tilting from one side to the other.

"You're welcome, Mr. McGonagall; however, when you're finished with your potion, you'll go to the hospital wing immediately. I don't want to see you in class for the rest of the week," Slughorn replied sternly.

Severus rolled his eyes, but as soon as he had finished brewing, the professor came over to where Lily was observing Severus uncorking a phial with shaking hands and said sternly, "Miss Evans, please escort Mr. McGonagall to the hospital wing. I will bottle your potion and clean your workspace for once, Mr. McGonagall."

Severus uttered a grateful thank you and allowed Lily to steady him and lead him into the Pomfreys' domain, ushering him to the bed right next to the Mediwitches' office.

Theresa came and waved her wand over Severus a few times, before she called Poppy and sent a Patronus to Minerva, who arrived a few minutes later. The three witches conferred a few metres beside Severus' bed, while Lily sat on the edge of his bed, worriedly holding her friend's hot hand as she tried to listen in on the adults' talk about sending him to St. Mungo's.

Finally, Theresa came and explained in a soft voice, "Severus, I believe it would be for the best if we sent you to St. Mungo's and have the Healers take your tonsils out."

"No," Severus replied in shock. "Please don't. It'll get better with potions. It's not that bad."

The three adults exchanged a concerned look, before Theresa finally said, "Very well then, we'll give it a try, but you cannot return to your own room. We're going to keep you here."

"Kay, thank you," Severus said hoarsely and closed his eyes in relief.

"Professor, may I please stay here with him?" Lily asked pleadingly, causing Minerva to smile.

"You may stay. I'll ask Remus to take notes for you," she promised and breathed a kiss on Severus' hot forehead, before she excused herself and left.

Lily remained at Severus' side until Poppy threw her out at the beginning of curfew. She spent the whole day sponging Severus' flushed face and trying to make him take small sips of water. During the following days, Severus' condition improved, even if very slowly, and after a week he was still stuck in bed.

"I have to beg Theresa to let me out for the Halloween feast," Severus said one day. "Halloween is on Saturday, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, but I can't imagine that they'll let you out for the feast," Lily said softly, gently adjusting her cool hand on his forehead. "You're still running quite a fever. But it doesn't matter; we can spend Halloween here. Remember last year."

Severus sighed. "I know. We played wizard's chess last year. You didn't have any more visions so far, did you?"

Lily's expression darkened visibly. "Sometimes, I have strange dreams. I don't know if they're visions or just dreams though. Only the one about Halloween is a recurring one," she admitted in a small voice. Seeing Severus frown and give her a concerned look, she said in a lighter tone, "At least it's several years into the future, so there is no need for us to worry about it now, right?"

"That's true," Severus mumbled, although he couldn't manage to shake off the bad feeling, which Lily's words had caused. "But still you should tell me if you have a bad vision at any times. We can watch it together, and it'll become only half as bad."

"Thank you, Sev," Lily said gratefully and leaned over go lightly kiss him on the cheek.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

When Lily returned to the Gryffindor common room on Thursday night after curfew, Remus asked worriedly, "How is Severus? Is he still in the hospital wing?"

"He'll have to stay at least over the weekend," Lily replied sadly. "Is Madam Pomfrey still not allowing any visitors except for me?"

"I don't know. I asked her a few days ago, and she didn't let me to Severus, but I don't want to pester them every day. As you know I'm a frequent customer myself and wouldn't want to get on their bad side."

"I fully understand, and I'll tell Sev that you asked about him," Lily said gently and turned to the stairs that led up to the girls' dormitories.

"Evans!" a soft voice called her back, and she saw to her surprise James Potter standing behind her. "Evans, let's go to the Halloween feast together!"

Lily looked at the other boy in shock, especially as he pointed his wand to a small spider that was sitting at the wall and transfigured it into a beautiful lily flower, which he handed to her. "Think about it, Evans. I'll be here, waiting for you until you come around," he said in a soft voice.

Like in a daze, Lily walked up the steps to her dormitory. '_Never before has anyone given me a flower_,' she mused. '_This is beautiful_.' A few minutes later, she was lying in bed, admiring the beautiful flower on her night table, before she drifted off to sleep with a small smile playing on her lips.

When she woke up in the morning, her eyes fell on the flower, causing her to remember the events of the previous evening. '_What am I going to do?_' she mused. '_Potter was very nice. On the other hand, he is a bully and a dunderhead like Sev would say, and I'd rather spend my time with Sev_.'

Lily spent her whole Transfiguration class pondering how she could tell James off. '_Maybe I could feign being ill_,' she finally came up with an idea, wondering if she should tell Severus about James' invitation or not. Like in a daze, she made it through her classes, before she returned to Severus' side right after the next afternoon class.

"Hey sweetie," she said softly, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. "How're you feeling?"

"Much better," Severus replied, looking at her in concern. "Are you feeling well though, Lily? You don't look good."

"Oh thank you for the compliment," Lily said, giggling. "I'm fine. I'm just a little annoyed. Potter had the gall to invite me to the Halloween feast. He should know that I prefer to be here with you. Anyway, I need to find a way to tell him off, and I thought maybe I should feign being sick. Do you think the Pomfreys will allow me to stay the whole night with you?"

Severus sighed. "The easiest would be if you just told him 'No', but if that's too difficult, you could stay here and try to fall asleep next to me, before Theresa or Poppy can send you back to Gryffindor."

"Thank you," Lily said gratefully. "You're right. I'll try to do that, although it's not easy to fall asleep on command."

However, when Lily woke up on Saturday morning, she knew immediately that she wouldn't have any problems falling asleep next to Severus. She felt strangely tired and her head hurt terribly. Glancing at her alarm clock, she realised that breakfast was long over and inwardly groaned. '_Oh no, Severus will be waiting for me. I better hurry up, before he becomes worried_.'

She spent the whole day with Severus, who was feeling much better and suggested to play wizard's chess. Lily agreed, even if she was still extremely tired and her head was pounding badly. She tried to concentrate on the game as well as possible, unaware of the concerned looks Severus shot her.

"Lily, are you really feeling all right?" he asked worriedly, before he announced, "Check mate" for the fifth time in a row. Even if Severus could play better than Lily, usually she managed to win a game once in a while.

"I'm fine; I'm just worried about the matter with Potter," Lily lied, "and I have a headache, probably because of it."

"Come, lie down here for a while," Severus offered, glad that Theresa had arranged the screens around his bed to give them a bit of privacy.

Lily agreed and lay down next to him, only faintly registering that Severus laid his arms around her as she drifted off to sleep in the blink of an eye.

'_She is beautiful_,' Severus mused. '_I just hope I won't lose her to Potter. He has been after her for a whole year now_.' With Lily in his arms, Severus finally drifted off to sleep as well.

Both of them woke up in the early evening, when James Potter suddenly entered their space behind the screen and shouted, "Lily!"

Lily and Severus woke up startled, and James hissed, "Snape, what do you think you're doing?"

"What's that entire ruckus here?" Theresa's stern voice could be heard right afterwards. "Mr. Potter, what do you think you're doing here? Out of here NOW."

"I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey. I came to look for Lily, because we wanted to go to the Halloween feast together, but Snape has Lily in his bed," James said in a very upset voice, causing the Mediwitch to sigh.

"Mr. Potter, you may either leave now, or I will assign you a bed for the rest of the weekend," Theresa replied firmly. "I noticed that Ms. Evans fell asleep on Mr. Snape's bed, but since she was suffering from a bad headache, I decided to not wake her up. Ms. Evans is in no condition to attend the Halloween feast tonight. Ten points from Gryffindor for waking up my patients."

Theresa turned to Lily and continued in a much softer voice. "Lily, now that you're awake I suggest that you take the bed next to Severus." She banished the screen with a flick of her wand and gently helped Lily to the next bed.

James grudgingly left, angrily muttering to himself as he crossed the hospital wing. A few minutes later, Minerva entered the room, looking around curiously.

"Theresa, what happened? I met Mr. Potter in front of the hospital wing, and he complained vehemently about you taking points from him, because he woke Lily up in his shock to see her together in bed with Severus."

Theresa sighed and explained the matter to Minerva. "Don't worry, Minerva, they were both fast asleep and I was looking in on them every now and then. I'm going to keep Lily here. I couldn't find anything wrong apart from a headache and a slight temperature; therefore I assume that it's just a problem of her immune system, but I prefer to keep her here."

"All right. I have to attend the Halloween feast. I'll come back later on." With that Minerva left the room, wondering how long Lily would be able to turn James Potter's attempts to gain her friendship down.

'_Thank Merlin I told Theresa the truth this morning_,' Severus mused as he observed Lily sleep in the bed right next to him. '_She looks beautiful, even when she's asleep and not feeling well_.'

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

During the following weeks, Lily somehow learned to turn James' offers down. Her classmate invited her to join him and his friends ever so often; however, after several long conversations with Severus, Theresa, Minerva and her friend Alice, Lily managed to refuse outright.

"No James, I'm not going to join you and your friends. I prefer to spend the weekend studying together with Severus," she told him on the last weekend before the Christmas holidays. "Remus, are you going to study with us, or do you prefer to spend the weekend with these good for nothing lazybones?"

Remus chuckled, knowing that Lily had to be very upset in order to use such words on her classmates. "I'm afraid I'll have to go home over the weekend, because my mother is sick," he replied, throwing Lily a pointed look, which didn't go unnoticed by the girl.

'_Oh the full moon_,' she thought, resolving to speak with Severus about the matter again. '_I know that he has been doing research, but he didn't tell me anything. Maybe we can spend the Christmas holidays together and do some research_.'

"I'm sorry for your mother. I hope she'll feel better soon," she finally said, smiling at her friend, and left the common room to speak with Severus.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Since Minerva had spent the complete winter holidays at McGonagall Manor in the previous year, she decided to remain at Hogwarts this time in order not to anger the Headmaster, especially since she knew that Severus wouldn't mind staying at the school. Lily tried to convince her mother to allow her to remain at Hogwarts as well; however, her mother insisted that she should come home for the holidays, claiming that ten months away from home was a very long time for a twelve-year old.

"I'll write to you every day, and I'll inform you about any progress or even of the lack of it," Severus promised in a soft voice as he accompanied Lily to the station in Hogsmeade.

During the first week, Lily obediently wrote back every day, sending her letters with the same school owl Severus had used in the morning; however, on Christmas day, there was no letter at all.

'_Maybe she didn't like my present_,' Severus worried as he realised that his raven, whom he had received for Christmas, returned without any message. However, a few hours later, Lily was suddenly standing in his room, completely soaked, shivering from the cold and drenched in tears.

_tbc..._


	19. 19

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 19**

"Lily, what's wrong? What happened?" Severus asked in concern, gently putting his arm around her shoulders.

"I've been expelled from Hogwarts," Lily sobbed.

"You WHAT?" Severus queried in disbelief. "Tell me exactly what happened please."

"Petunia!" Lily sobbed. "She is so horrible; I can't stand being under the same roof with her anymore." She hurriedly wiped her eyes with her fists, before she continued, "She was always going on about magic and freaks and me being friends with a freak like you, oh well, the usual; you know her."

"I do indeed," Severus said softly, gently rubbing circles into the girl's back.

"But today, when I received your present, she was so jealous that she went on about it all the time, and when I was in the kitchen to help Mum cook lunch, she threw all my presents through the window. She was just going to begin throwing all my other possessions out as well, shouting she couldn't bear having a freak in the house anymore, when I noticed it and stopped her."

"You stopped her?" Severus asked curiously.

"Yes," Lily sobbed even more. "I pulled my wand and knocked her out with the Expelliarmus spell. I didn't even think about not doing any magic during the holidays. It only took ten minutes until the owl arrived that I was expelled from Hogwarts, and then I left."

"They expelled you?" Severus asked, terrified. "They can't easily do that. Let's speak with Minerva. I'm sure she'll be able to help you. Come, we need to find her, so she can cast a drying charm on you in any case, if you don't want to spend the rest of the holidays sick in bed."

Severus pulled Lily out of the room and into the living room, where they had both been reading their new books before Severus had retreated to his room for a few minutes. His adoptive mother immediately waved her wand at Lily to dry her and asked what had happened.

"I've been expelled from Hogwarts," Lily sobbed, causing her Head of House to look at her in disbelief.

Severus quickly began to explain what Lily had told him, causing the girl to throw him a grateful look.

"Lily, don't panic. I'm sure we'll be able to keep you here at Hogwarts. I'm going to call the Headmaster over," Minerva said gently. "The rule that forbids students to do magic outside out Hogwarts is a rule that Professor Dumbledore made up. Therefore, he'll surely be able to revoke it."

'_Although Lily attacked a Muggle with magic?_' Severus mused in disbelief as his adoptive mother stepped over to the fireplace and called the Headmaster.

Five minutes later, Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace, and if the situation hadn't been so grave, Lily and Severus would have both blurted out with laughter at his sight. He was wearing dark red robes that made him look like Santa Clause with his long, white beard.

Minerva quickly told the story, noticing that the Headmaster's expression became grave. "Albus, you'll surely be able to do something about the matter, considering that it's your own rule according to which Miss Evans was expelled."

"Hmmm," Dumbledore made thoughtfully, slowly stroking his beard. "This is indeed very difficult, because Miss Evans used magic to harm a Muggle." He gave Lily a sad look.

"I'm sorry," Lily sobbed, leaning into Severus' embrace as he pulled her closer.

"Please, Headmaster, do anything to keep Lily at Hogwarts," he said urgently. "You can punish her and for example tell her she has to spend all of her free time in the Potions classroom, researching for a cure for lycanthropy or something."

Dumbledore threw him a surprised look. "Mr. McGonagall, are you aware that the search for a cure to heal werewolves would probably cost all her remaining six years at Hogwarts and still have no result? Many people over the centuries have tried to find such a cure."

"I know," Severus replied, sighing. "I'll help her, and maybe together we'll be able to come up with something."

"Lily and Severus are good friends with Remus Lupin," Minerva threw in, smiling.

"Ah, I see," Dumbledore said pensively. "Very well then; Miss Evans, do you agree with the punishment Mr. McGonagall suggested for you?"

"Yes sir," Lily replied eagerly. "Will that be possible? May I remain at Hogwarts?"

"I must go to the Ministry and talk with the Minister; however, he'll probably agree to my suggestion." With that, the Santa Clause like Headmaster stepped back into the fireplace and vanished in the flames.

"Don't worry; everything will be all right, Lily," Minerva said soothingly, when an idea crossed her mind. "Malcolm," she called her house-elf, who appeared in the blink of an eye. "Please gather a few other elves and install a Potions lab here in my quarters next to Severus' room."

"Yes, Mistress Minerva," Malcolm replied excitedly and popped away.

"Severus, please instruct the elves exactly how you want to have your lab. However, both of you have to promise me that you won't do anything dangerous, which includes brewing all on your own during the night when you're tired," she added with a stern look in Severus' direction.

"I promise," Lily and Severus said simultaneously, before they eagerly left the room to observe the elves' work.

'_Better having them here under my eyes than alone in the Potions classroom all the time_,' Minerva thought, knowing that Professor Slughorn hardly ever made an appearance in the classroom after dinner. '_Even if I'm not a Potions professor, I'll be able to cast the Evanesco spell if necessary_.'

By the time the Headmaster returned from the Ministry, the Potions lab was ready. The room had the same size as Severus', but it was magically enlarged. In the middle of the room was a huge, white working table with four work stations. One side of the room held a huge magical window just like Severus' room, one of the smaller sides had two large sinks, and the other two walls were covered with shelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling.

"Severus, this is wonderful," Lily said in amazement. "I especially like that it's so bright."

"That's true," Severus replied, smiling.

"Now I believe it's time to head to the Great Hall for Christmas dinner. We need to..." Minerva said, entering the lab, only to interrupt herself. "Oh, this is a wonderful Potions lab. Was that your idea, Severus?"

"Yes," Severus replied evenly, before he quickly extended his arms to steady Lily, who was swaying a little. "Lily, what's wrong?"

"He'll be the youngest and best Potions Master since Salazar Slytherin," Lily said in a slightly strange, high voice, before a small shudder ran through her body and she stared at Minerva and Severus in confusion. "What? Oh sorry..."

"Are you feeling all right, Lily?" Minerva asked gently, giving her student a sharp look.

"I think Lily is a Seer," Severus spoke up in a small voice. "She had visions of the future before."

"Is that true, Lily?" Minerva asked briskly with a clearly shocked expression on her face.

"Yes, I think so," Lily replied in a barely audible voice. "Sometimes, I see scenes, which normally occur on the next day or a few days afterwards. There is only one vision, which I see from time to time, but it's always the same, and it'll probably occur in about ten years' time. I showed it to Severus last year."

"It was quite frightening," Severus agreed, "but we're adults in that one."

"Yes, it was about Alice and Frank and Sev and me and two babies," Lily explained, deciding not to reveal the bad side of the vision in order not to worry the professor unnecessarily. "By the way, thank you so much for saving me from being expelled, both of you. I really appreciate it."

"We're glad to have you here, Lily," Minerva said gently. "After dinner, I'll go and speak with your parents. I'm sure they must be beside themselves with worry. You may accompany me if you want, but you don't have to." She threw Lily an assessing look.

"I'll never ever return there. If my parents want to see me, they can come here or meet me somewhere, and if I can't stay here during the summer, I'm going to spend the holidays in the Shrieking Shack, but I won't go back home as long as my sister lives there," Lily said firmly.

"I'm sure we'll find a solution," Severus said soothingly, gently putting his arm around Lily's back.

When they returned from dinner, Minerva asked, "Lily, is there anything you want me to bring from your home?"

Lily sighed. "I didn't bring anything except for my wand. Can you just bring everything you can find in my room and can somehow fit into my trunk, please?"

"Of course, Lily; would you like to stay in my guest room or in your dormitory over the rest of the holidays?"

"Oh, my dormitory is all right, Professor. Thank you so much for everything," Lily said softly, throwing Minerva a grateful look.

"Very well then; don't wait for me, Lily. It might be late until I'm back, because I have a few other errands to run as well. I'll see both of you tomorrow morning. Severus, please don't forget to go to bed around curfew. Good night."

"Shall we head to the lab and do some research?" Severus suggested as soon as Minerva had stepped into the fireplace to take the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron.

"I'd like that. Sev, do you think we'll be able to invent something that might help Remus?" Lily asked hesitantly as she eagerly followed Severus into the new lab.

"I hope so. Oh right, I need my notes. Lily, sit down and wait a moment. I'll fetch my notes from my room, so I can tell you what I've found out so far." He hurried out of the room, returning a few minutes later with a huge stack of parchments. "The most difficult thing is that we can't do tests with rats, because we don't have werewolf rats. Therefore, we have to base everything on theory, at least until we reach some kind of final stage.

Lily and Severus spent the whole evening in the lab, and Severus explained the most important details he had found out so far, before they tried to make a plan for their future research. Around curfew, they obediently finished their research for the day.

"Shall we continue right after breakfast tomorrow?" Severus suggested.

Lily smiled. "Of course, Sev. That's my full time job now, whenever we don't have classes."

"Oh Lily, you know that it's not like that," Severus said softly. "Sleep well then; I'll see you at breakfast. Will you be all right all on your own in Gryffindor?"

Lily agreed, smiling. However, in the morning, Lily neither showed up for breakfast nor for their research in the lab.

When Lily didn't attend breakfast in the morning, Severus turned to his guardian. "Did anything happen that made Lily return home during the night?"

"No," Minerva replied in surprise. "In fact, I wanted to speak with Lily. I'm surprised that she isn't here. Did she say anything last night?"

Severus shook his head. "No. We worked in the lab until curfew and then decided to continue right after breakfast. We'll see if she comes to the lab."

However, an hour later, there was still no sign of Lily, and Severus became worried. He placed the potion he was just brewing under a stasis charm and strode into Minerva's office to ask her if she could go and check if Lily was still in Gryffindor.

"Of course," Minerva replied, getting worried by the girl's absence herself. "You can return to the lab if you want. I'll go and check on Lily. Only two Gryffindors are staying over the holidays apart from Lily, and both are sixth years, whom I allowed to spend the day in Hogsmeade."

"All right; thank you, Minerva," Severus said gratefully, and the Gryffindor Head strode through her office into the Gryffindor common room.

Still seeing no sign of the first year, Minerva walked up to the first year girls' dormitory, her pace fastening in concern as she spotted the girl's figure curled up under her covers and heard her ragged breathing. She carefully sat on the edge of the bed. "Lily?" she asked softly, causing the girl to turn around.

"Professor," she said, letting out a few sneezes. "I'm sorry; I was supposed to do research with Severus, but I was too dizzy to get up. Can you help me to his potions lab, please?"

Minerva looked worriedly at the girl, who looked outright ill. Her cheeks were deeply flushed, dark rings were surrounding her eyes, and she seemed to be shivering in spite of the fact that her forehead was covered in sweat, making her hair stick to it.

"Lily, you're ill and in no condition to do any research. However, I'm going to take you with me to my guest room, so that I can check on you and look after you. Unfortunately, you chose the worst time to get sick, because Poppy and Theresa have just left for a one week holiday this morning."

She waved her wand to conjure a stretcher, while Lily tried to protest hoarsely. "Professor, I'm not sick. I feel fine. I'm just dizzy, but I'm sure it'll pass when I'm up and about."

Minerva carefully placed her hand on the girl's forehead that felt even hotter to the touch than expected. "Lily, you're definitely sick." With that she waved her wand and magically moved the student to the stretcher, before she made it float in front of herself back to the common room.

An instant later, Lily found herself in the bed in Minerva's guest room. Minerva sat on the edge of her bed, giving her a sharp look. "What exactly is ailing you, Lily?" she asked softly.

"I'm fine, just a bit dizzy," Lily repeated, causing her Head of House to frown.

"Lily, I've been Head of Gryffindor for more than thirty years. Believe me; I know that you're ill. Let me quickly check on you, even if I have to use Muggle methods." She lit the tip of her wand and closely examined Lily's throat, her ears and her eyes, before she adjusted a thermometer under her tongue and wrote a few notes on a parchment. "39.3," she worriedly read from the display and sighed. "You probably have a bad throat infection. I'm going to give you two potions, one for the fever and one for the infection, and we'll see if they work. Otherwise, I'll have to summon Poppy."

Minerva fetched the phials from the small stock on her shelf and gently helped Lily to sit up a little bit and take the potions, before she conjured a glass with pumpkin juice for the girl.

"Thank you," Lily whispered, feeling very thirsty. She gratefully sipped the juice, noticing that it felt soothing to her sore throat, before the potions kicked in, causing her to slowly drift off to sleep.

'_So much about quiet holidays_,' Minerva thought as she left the room to inform Severus and the Headmaster and excuse herself for the next few meals in the Great Hall, because she needed to look after her patient.

HP

Lily took her punishment very seriously, and from this time onwards, the two friends spent most of their free time together either in libraries or in their own lab in Minerva's quarters to research a possible wolfscure potion. Minerva regularly checked on her son and his best friend, but the two students did not only enjoy themselves with their daily research but were also very responsible and took good care of each other, knowing that both their health conditions were not as good as they should be. However, in spite of being very adept and diligent, it took the two friends until the end of their fifth year, before they were able to offer Remus a very first attempt for a potion that might in any way help for lycanthropy.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments for the last chapter and sorry for the delay. I hope you don't mind the time jump at the end of the chapter..._


	20. 20

**Severus McGonagall**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!_

* * *

**Chapter 20 - Epilogue**

Together with Poppy, Lily and Severus hurried into the Shrieking Shack to enquire if their potion had worked or if Remus had still transformed.

Remus waited for them with a smile on his face. "Thank you so much, Lily and Severus," he said in a soft voice. "I still transformed into my wolf's form; however, I was not a werewolf but more like an Animagus. I still had my human mind."

Lily and Severus looked at each other in clear disappointment. "So sorry Remus," Lily apologized, before her thoughts wandered off to the ingredients, which they had used, and she absentmindedly followed her friends back to the castle.

HP

It was later the same day, when Lily and Severus headed to their for another experiment, that Severus uncertainly cleared his throat and hesitantly spoke up. "Lily, will you become my girlfriend?" He pulled a small box out of his robe pocket and tossed it at Lily, observing in evident excitement as she opened the box and stared at the chain that was inside in awe.

"Oh Sev, of course I want to be your girlfriend," she replied, smiling, only to add, "Have I ever been anything else?"

Severus smirked. "Oh well, in fact I'd prefer to ask you to marry me, but we probably have to wait until after our NEWTs anyway," he replied, regrettably.

Lily smiled. "It's ok, Sev; if I know you want to marry me, I can well wait for another two years," she said brightly, before she looked back at the chain and the golden pendant, and finally gave Severus a questioning look.

"I hope you like it. I designed it myself and thought to make it a symbol of our family, considering that we're both cat Animagi," Severus explained, hesitantly.

"It's beautiful," Lily said, amazed. "And it's a wonderful idea."

"The jeweller, who made it for me, added several charms to it, for example against attacks, illnesses and potions accidents," Severus continued, smirking. "I hope it'll help me to keep you save my dear."

"Thank you so much, Sev," Lily said, happily eyeing the chain.

Severus let out a sigh of absolute relief, before he stepped nearer and gently took the chain out of Lily's hand to carefully fasten it around her neck.

HP

Minerva chose that instant to step into the lab and was the first to hear the good news. "Congratulations, Lily and Severus," she said, feeling very happy for her son and the girl, who had been like a daughter to her since her first Hogwarts year. "Do you have a few minutes to join me in the living room? I'd like to speak with you both, but especially with Severus, about what you intend to do after your OWLs, considering that you're going to take your NEWTs in Potions in two weeks' time."

Both students readily followed the professor into the living room, where Lily and Severus looked at the professor in expectation.

"Severus, even if you still have to study two years for your other subjects to finish your NEWTs, it would be possible that you took over some of Professor Slughorn's classes if that's what you want," Minerva said gently, looking from Lily to Severus.

Severus let out a long sigh. "Thank you so very much for offering this," he said slowly. "However, I'm not sure if I'd be a good teacher. I'd like to become the Potions Master for Hogwarts though, provided that it's possible to separate the two posts."

Minerva nodded her understanding. "I'll tell Poppy and Theresa about your suggestion, and we'll speak with the Headmaster. I know for a fact that they'd appreciate it a lot if you could continue brewing for them and they didn't have to rely on Professor Slughorn."

Severus thanked his guardian profusely and continued, "Mum, in fact, I wanted to speak with you and Lily about this anyway." Seeing that Minerva cast him an expectant look, he continued, "The apothecary in Hogsmeade told me that he wants to retire and is looking for someone to take over his shop. During our last two years at Hogwarts, I intend to study for the Potions Mastery, and I'm thinking about having our own apothecary in Hogsmeade, provided that Lily agrees to do this together with me."

Minerva looked at him in surprise. "That sounds good, especially if the two of you can work together," she said, smiling. "Then you would be well able to provide Hogwarts with potions."

"Lily?" Severus queried, quirking an eyebrow.

Lily was sitting there, stunned. "Sev, this is just wonderful. Of course I'll do this together with you. Will the apothecary wait till we finish Hogwarts though?"

Severus smirked. "Well, that was the first thing I asked him, and he agreed immediately. He told me to come to him in order to sign the contract as soon as I've got the result from my Potion NEWTs." He let his eyes wander from Lily to Minerva. "By the way, there's something else that I'd like to discuss with you. I think Lily should be allowed to take the NEWTs in Potions as well, not the OWLs. All these years, she has been brewing together with me and knows as much as I do about Potions. I'm sure that she'll be able to receive an O in the NEWT exam."

Minerva cast Lily a questioning look. "That would be awesome, Professor. I'd really like to take them now and then study for the mastery together with Sev."

Minerva smiled at the two sixteen-year-olds. "I can't promise anything, because I need to ask Professors Slughorn and Dumbledore, but I'll speak with them during dinner," she promised, only to add, "I'm very proud of you both."

HP

Fortunately, Professors Dumbledore and Slughorn agreed to all points, and after taking their Potions NEWTs at the end of their fifth year, Severus and Lily became officially responsible for the supply of all potions that were needed in the hospital wing, in spite of only being sixth years in all subjects but Potions.

During the next two years, Lily and Severus intensified their efforts to develop a remedy for lycanthropy, and a mere few weeks before the end of their seventh Hogwarts year, Remus Lupin was the first werewolf to be cured by the wolfscure potion.

HP

The fact that the two youngest Potions Masters that Britain had ever seen, who had received the Order of Merlin first class for inventing the wolfscure together, were the owners of the new apothecary in Hogsmeade spread like a wildfire over Britain's magical world. If Lily and Severus had feared that there would not be enough work for both of them, even if they had to supply Hogwarts, they were completely mistaken, and after a year of totally overworking themselves, they decided to hire a part-time assistant, especially when it became clear that Lily was pregnant.

To the small family's delight, their best friends, Alice and Frank, had a baby boy just one day before their own boy, Harry Severus, was born, and the two babies practically grew up together.

HP

When Harry and Neville were one year old, Severus noticed that Lily was not as happy and calm as she used to be, and after observing her for a few weeks in utmost concern, he finally asked his wife what was wrong.

"Sev, do you remember the vision, which I had so often during the last ten years?" Lily asked quietly. "I think it's going to occur soon, but I don't know what we could do to prevent it. Probably nothing... right?"

Severus let out a long sigh, before he asked, "Would you please show me the scene again?"

After watching the vision once again, he said quietly, "We can only wait and see, be as alert as possible, so that if it happens, it'll end well like in your vision. Still I don't think that it's going to happen," he added soothingly, not wanting to upset his wife more than necessary.

HP

In the evening of Halloween, Severus was still downstairs in the apothecary, serving his last customers, when all of a sudden, the door to their apartment was flung open and a man clothed in black robes was standing in the doorframe.

"Step aside! I only want your sons," the figure hissed at Lily and Alice, who were playing with Harry and Neville.

_'My vision became true. It's Voldemort,'_ Lily understood immediately, staring into the evil wizard's red eyes. The worst that could happen was just taking place. "No, please take me and leave the children in peace," she pleaded.

"Step aside," Voldemort demanded, pointing his wand at the young witch.

Lily barely heard him cast the spell, before she saw a red light travel in her direction. '_This is the end_,' she thought, knowing that she was going to die. '_I love you Harry and Severus,_' she thought, preparing herself for the inevitable.

However, an instant later, she was still conscious. The red light had stopped on its way and was suddenly flung back to its origin. Just when her eyes travelled farther to meet the evil wizard, the backfired spell hit him square into the chest, causing him to collapse on the floor.

Lily was just about to hurry to her son's side, when she heard a voice calling from downstairs. "Severus," she shouted back, before she picked Harry up into her arms. "Come quickly. It just happened."

"The boys must have used very strong accidental magic," Severus said in amazement, closely inspecting the scars on the two babies' foreheads.

"Will you be able to give them something for those scars?" Alice queried, looking from Severus to Lily.

"We'll have to invent something," Severus replied, thoughtfully.

"Otherwise they'll just have to live with their scars," Lily added, "so that we'll always be reminded that they saved our lives tonight."

"Lily, take Harry and go and visit Granny," Severus decided after Alice had taken Neville home through the Floo. "I'll call the Aurors and clean up here."

"Yay, Hawwy go Gwanny," Harry cheered and toddled ahead towards the fireplace, grinning happily, when Lily threw in the Floo powder, shouting, "Minerva McGonagall's rooms, Hogwarts."

**THE END**

_Thank you so much for your continuous support throughout this story!_


End file.
